>
You are stating that no one buys other products because there is no choice.
>

I am not saying that at all. All I am saying is that a lack of choice exists. Whether it is good or bad is another question. Whether folks would buy something else is yet another question - one that I am not going to get into now... FWIW, don't think the issue with choice has so much to do with OS A vs buying OS B. Rather, I think the issue is the alledged anti-competitive tactics MS has employed because they make the one major OS available today. Are folks happy with Windows - for the most part - yes. However, have there been some strong-arm tactics by MS when dealing with OEM's and ISV's? The evidence before the court would indicate yes. The issue here is a many-sided polygon. Unfortunately, most folks view the issue in terms of how they are personally affected. Most developers have had their lives made easier due to work MS has done. However, there are alot of other folks - non developers in the world that may have a different opinion. And one thing is for sure. There are a lot more of them than us...< bg >..

>
My belief is that no one buys other products because there is no compelling reason to buy another product. I think in particular you can see the results of this in MS Office. I belief that Office got to its lofty position as #1 based on failure of other products, more than Office successes. I worked at a couple places around the time of Office gaining momentum.
>

This is a circular agrgument...

>
I think some IS departments switched because it was easier to buy 1 package to get WP, spreadsheet together. Bigger reason, was because of the ease of training since menu commands were similar across the Office line. Competitors simply refused to buy into the premise that Windows would catch on.
>

Office is a good product.. you will get no argument from me..


>
Same reason for Novell ending up where they are. They kept on resisting to come out with Windows based utilities for the longest time. I heard many an administrator talk about how NT fell far short of Novell in terms of stability, and robustness, yet it became easier for IT departments to deal with a network operating system that was similar to the desktop variety.
>

The big mistake of Novel was resting on their laurels. They got their ass kicked. NT has several advantages:

1. It is easier to install
2. For the most part - it is easier to maintain (although NDS is pretty nice)
3. Applications are written for the platform