LAW: Re:Class action suite against Microsoft

Miles Seeley says:
"Bill Gates has been instrumental in changing the way we live, first with DOS, then with the many incarnations of Windows. He has built a hugely successful company around these innovations, and he and his senior officers have been tough and even ruthless businessmen. Personally, I thought the government's anti-trust suits, brought with the intent of breaking up Microsoft, would not benefit consumers. It seemed to me that the government's case was influenced by those who had lost in head-to-head competition with Microsoft, so there was an undercurrent of whining and sour grapes in their claims.

Granted that much of Windows' look and feel was originated by Apple, and that many other elements of Windows had been the ideas and work of others, it has been Microsoft that refined and polished and marketed the operating system that over 90% of computer users have on their machines.

Any company that becomes enormously successful will evoke envy and jealousy from its competitors. In my non-legal mind, the question is whether I think I, and millions like me, would ultimately benefit more from leaving Microsoft alone, or having the Justice Department and the courts break it up. My judgement is that it should be left alone. Sitting here with Windows XP on my machine, I am grateful and constantly amazed at how Microsoft and many other hardware and software companies have brought us to this point in global communicating. I don't begrudge Mr. Gates his billions of dollars and I applaud his foundation and its many good works".