> [WS:] Is it possible that this will price Micro$oft out of the market? What
> prevents offshore competitors of designing a simpler an more efficient OS
> for a fraction of Vista's sticker price and which can run on older machines
> performing all the tasks that Windows does, less the bottlenecks?
They already have; its called Linux. Its free!
> This begs a broader question; why is Micro$oft still a monopolist as far as
> the OS is concerned, when there are more efficient and less costly
> alternatives that can be relatively easily installed on every computer?
When people buy a new computer, it has Windows already installed. period.
As from last Tuesday, you can no longer buy a new PC with XP installed; it will come with Vista, whether you like it or not.
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Colin Brace
Amsterdam