Microsoft becoming more open ?
Make it easier for everyone to write programs to plug into windows said the courts. We will do so announced Microsoft this month.Though it might have escaped from the courts, it is still worrying about the European courts whose judgement is due in a couple of months.

Windows server 2003 is about to be launched and customers are pushing for more open standards( meaning make code open to all, not just to a few trusted vendors signing confidentiality agreements). Steve Ballmer seems to disagree. He claims he will still bundle MS ptoducts together. Want one? Use them all ! This strategy has worked prety well.

Want WIndows? Use IE killed netscape
Want Windows ? Use Media Player killed Real MEdia
Want hotmail ? Use IE, caused problems for Opera
Want Windows ? Don't use Java spelled a disaster for Java

Want windows ? Don't use flash is the threat which scares me now !

The threat of locking its property to poential competitors is the biggest stick Microsoft wields. It owns 90% of desktops, browsers and a sizeable chunk of email and chat users. It reserves the option to lock out any competitor from any of these platforms by simply making the code non-compatible. Companies have been doing this for quite a while ( AOL preventing its messenger system from working with MSN and yahoo), but none to the same degree as MS.

Leveraging dominance in one area to sell more of other products is a typical MS ploy. So no wonder Steve says "The opportunity here isn’t just to get a higher percentage of servers to run with our server operating system. It’s also to sell more SQL , more Exchange [ e-mail ], more management and more security.

MS is trying its best to repeat the windows dominance in Games, Cell phones, and Online services. But servers are the fastest growing areas for MS. Sun holds 15% and Linux 14% with MS claiming 60% of the market.

So the pitch " Buy MS servers, you get everything. Buy Linux and u have to do everything yourself" seems to be working for MS.