The Department of Justice is crowing about how much their antitrust settlement with Microsoft has benefitted consumers. Now, why do I have a hard time swallowing that?
Among the DOJ’s evidence that the settlement is working: Increased competition to Internet Explorer from other browsers such as Firefox and Opera; the popularity of Apple’s iTunes, QuickTime, and Adobe’s Flash for handling multimedia content; the increasing use of web-based services for email and other applications; and the decisions by hardware vendors such as Dell to offer Linux preloaded on their computers.
All that “claims” relating to Web 2.0 apps, Flash’s media support, and iTunes are laughable at best. The market shifted, some very smart people made some really good software, and some even better decisions on how to get it into people’s hands. The DOJ is trying to ride on the coattails of all that, and it’s disgraceful. That neutered settlement may have had some effects, but it’s just plain dishonest, what they’re saying.