[anonymous_iam]

This is not a new thing. Decades ago when Verizon contracted with Microsoft to "upgrade" their web portal, it was no longer usable from any browser other than IE. I had been using it from Netscape on various SPARC machines and from my mobile device (PalmOS). The web page html source had no exotic platform specific language elements. It was obviously a "business decision". I wrote the VP at Verizon a letter pointing out that they had just abandoned 5% of their user base. I also switched to AT&T.

[mtgx]

Behold the "new" Microsoft, same as the old Microsoft.

[cookiecaper]

Microsoft's cash cow has always been Windows, and secondarily, Office. That directed their decisions then and it directs their decisions now.

The landscape may change such that Microsoft feels it is beneficial to release things like .NET Core as open-source, but this doesn't reflect a change in what Microsoft values ("A PC on every desk running Microsoft software" and the associated revenue streams), it reflects a change in what they believe is necessary to secure their goals.

[sqeaky]

Saying "its a business decision" doesn't justify unethical and potentially illegal behavior. This is either incompetence or malice. If it is malice it falls well on the wrong side antitrust behavior. If its incompetence, well it isn't much better is it?

[cookiecaper]

Although I don't think it's unethical to intentionally make the experience slower for some users, I'm not trying to justify it.

I'm trying to explain that as long as Microsoft's incentives align with making Windows dominant, they're going to engage in behaviors to make it happen, including things like artificially slowing connections from non-Windows machines.

Instead of saying "MS is releasing stuff open-source, they must be having a change of heart", we should say "MS believes that opening this as open-source is the best way to ensure Windows' continued dominance". That's what I'm trying to highlight.

[sqeaky]

So why do you say anti-competitive behavior wouldn't be unethical?

Sorry for the double negatives, I am just trying to understand. It seems clear to me that potentially hurting paying customers to increase one's own wealth is obviously unethical. This of course presumes malice, which hasn't yet been proven.

[cookiecaper]

IMO, most companies can't engage in anti-competitive behavior independently. You need a special status as a monopoly or a part of a cartel. For normal companies, normal behavior is "anti-competitive" because the point of business is to beat your competitors.

If we assign MS the role of a "typical business" instead of a monopoly (they have may been a monopoly 20 years ago, but it's hard to make that case now), Microsoft is under no ethical obligation a) to provide a client for other operating systems; or b) to ensure that performance parity exists between every client on every platform.

While it may not be super polite to release clients for other platforms and then subtly cripple them in order to drive users back to Windows, there's nothing below-the-belt about it IMO.