Microsoft Controversy

The Justice Department is wrong and The Times is wrong (“Bill Gates Is Wrong,” editorial, May 20). There is a lot to hate about Microsoft Windows. There is also a lot to hate about old age, but it is better than the alternative. I fear that government regulation is the worst possible alternative to Microsoft’s dominance.

As with IBM 40 years ago, the leading position of Microsoft and Windows provides a de facto standard in a rapidly growing technology. Such a standard is the very anchor that innovators large and small (including Netscape) require in order to offer their products to users.

It is indeed unfortunate that the nature of things requires that we have a government, the worst and most oppressive monopoly imaginable. If only it would limit its activities to matters that truly require its intervention we would all be better off.

SIDNEY HATCHL

Santa Ana

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If the subhead of James V. DeLong’s May 20 column were correct, and Microsoft were succeeding with creativity and innovation, there would be far less support for antitrust actions against Microsoft. The truth is that Microsoft has reached industry dominance through anti-competitive actions, such as coercing hardware manufacturers into bundling Windows with their machines.

Most Microsoft products are derivative of other work and their quality is poor. Forcing Microsoft to divorce its Internet browser from the rest of the Windows user interface will hardly stifle what little creativity and innovation there is. As a computer professional with over 20 years of experience on numerous operating systems and hardware, I can assure you that the future of the industry does not rest on the integration of Internet Explorer with Windows 98.

ART KAUFMANN

Los Angeles