Les wrote: > On Thu, 2007-01-18 at 16:30 -0800, Peter Gordon wrote: > snip >> Anti-malware companies, which make their large profits from the infestations >> and insecurities of Windows, have a huge say in what Microsoft can do with >> their OS. Unfortunately for such a companies as Microsoft and others, this >> profit is apparently worth more to them then consumer satisfaction and good >> design principles. >> -- > snip > > Can you post a source for this assertion? I find it highly unlikely > that Microsoft even talks to these folks other than to give them the > same access to Redmond that any other Windows Certified developer has. I asserted no such idea; but their actions speak for themselves. My statement was that, should Microsoft actually fix their security holes and design practices, it would likely break backward-compatibility quite severely, as well as preclude the need for many anti-malware packages. This, in turn, would drastically harm the business of these companies as well as force software companies that made use of these "features" (*ahem*) to fix their software - which could create quite large potential costs. This, in turn, makes them charge more for the software, which in turn reduces the potential total amount purchased (price-demand curve), which in turn means that people will not purchase as much Windows software and support (*ahem*...if that's what they call it). This, in turn, means that people will be much less inclined to use anti-malware products, and the cycle continues. Thus, should MS fix these things, they and many other companies potentially lose quite a lot of money. One change in a generally-undeviating economy can wreak havoc through the economic system of that society... (This is all theoretically, of course...) -- Peter Gordon (codergeek42) This message was sent through a webmail interface, and thus not signed.