Microsoft internal discussions

[XMEN Gambit]

... are being revealed in the antitrust lawsuit in Iowa. I'm so glad SOMEONE keeps after them.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/art ... Id=9007527

Here's a few choice quotes:

Referring to 3rd party developers: "...you can't let them feel like pawns, no matter how much they really are."

"It's like you're going out with a girl ... you have to talk long term and white picket fence and all these other wonderful things, or else you're never going to get what you're really looking for."

...testified that [Lotus] 1-2-3's eventual demise was caused in part by Microsoft encouraging Lotus' programmers to use Windows application programming interfaces (API). Microsoft Excel's own developers had already decided those same APIs "were not worthwhile using because they were complicated," he said. "They used large amounts of memory. They were slower than other ways of doing it" Alternative APIs "were not provided to Lotus and to other companies..."

James Allchin wrote that Microsoft had "lost sight" of customers' needs and that he would buy a Mac if he wasn't working for Microsoft.