@Quinnum

> MS are damned if they do and damned if they don't

But the point is that they *don't*, and they've been doing "don't" for many years now. It's called "lock-in". If someone already has something then churn out your own version, build it into Windows and then claim it's better because people "chose" to use it.

> The MS developers are just ordinary hacks like you or I trying to work for a living, not deliberately setting out to destroy the world.

Corporate policy starts at the top, as you well know. That's how Microsoft has an inglorious track-record as a convicted, predatory monopolist. The corporation - not the poor sods who have to churn out the code.

> PS, Adobe did nothing, they bought Flash, nothing more.

And if you'd whip off your rose-tinted specs and did some research, you'll find that what Microsoft sell as been bought, too.