On Fri, 1 May 1998, Donald Greer wrote:
> What if Microsoft simply did not distribute drivers for those hardware
> products (e.g. network cards, scsi controllers, isdn cards, video cards,
> etc.) which did not require NDA's and such in the interest of "Quality
> Control".
Microsoft cannot do this, because it would render their systems
incompatible with a vast array of existing hardware. These days the NDA
frenzy has subsided; you can count the number of new products requiring
NDA's on the fingers of one foot. Microsoft would, essentially, be
attempting to force all owners of existing hardware, including the
stupendously large Matrox and S3 markets, to go to great lengths to
continue to use their products. If they instead only say "we will not
distribute any new drivers for open-specification products" that would
pretty much aggravate the Justice Department to an extent never before
seen, I think. Microsoft may have a lot of clout, but I doubt they would
deliberately antagonize either most of their existing users, the DoJ, or
both.
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