Microsoft: Difference between revisions - Consumer_Action

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===Court cases up to the early 2000s===

In a major antitrust case brought by the US Department of Justice, ''U.S. v. Microsoft Corp.,'' 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001),<ref>https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/253/34/576095/</ref> Microsoft argued that there was no barrier to entry in the market they were in. A central issue at that time was whether Microsoft could bundle the web browser Internet Explorer with the Microsoft Windows operating system. The District Court stated the following in the court case: "The District Court condemned a number of provisions in Microsoft's agreements licensing Windows to OEMs, because it found that Microsoft's imposition of those provisions (like many of Microsoft's other actions at issue in this case) serves to reduce usage share of Netscape's browser and, hence, protect Microsoft's operating system monopoly."

In a major antitrust case brought by the US Department of Justice, ''U.S. v. Microsoft Corp.,'' 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001),<ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/253/34/576095/ "U.S. v. Microsoft Corp., 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001)"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> Microsoft argued that there was no barrier to entry in the market they were in. A central issue at that time was whether Microsoft could bundle the web browser Internet Explorer with the Microsoft Windows operating system. The District Court stated the following in the court case: "The District Court condemned a number of provisions in Microsoft's agreements licensing Windows to OEMs, because it found that Microsoft's imposition of those provisions (like many of Microsoft's other actions at issue in this case) serves to reduce usage share of Netscape's browser and, hence, protect Microsoft's operating system monopoly."

The court specifically identified three main license restrictions for [[Original Equipment Manufacturers]] (OEMs) that were considered problematic:

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#The prohibition of otherwise altering the appearance of the Windows desktop

The case was eventually settled,<ref>https://www.justice.gov/atr/case-document/file/503541/dl</ref><ref>https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/373/1199/474311/</ref> and did not result in a company breakup.<ref>https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/long-antitrust-saga-ends-for-microsoft/</ref>

The case was eventually settled,<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/atr/case-document/file/503541/dl "Final judgment of US v. Microsoft"] - justice.gov - accessed 2025-01-29</ref><ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/373/1199/474311/ "Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Ex Rel., Appellant, v. Microsoft Corporation"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> and did not result in a company breakup.<ref>[https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/long-antitrust-saga-ends-for-microsoft/ "Long antitrust saga ends for Microsoft"] - seattletimes.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref>

Section III.H of the Consent Decree<ref>https://www.justice.gov/atr/microsoft-consent-decree-compliance-advisory-august-1-2003-us-v-microsoft</ref> required Microsoft to "allow end users and OEMs to enable or remove access to all middleware products, including web browsers, e-mail clients, and media players through a readily accessible, centralized mechanism." End users and OEMs should be able "to specify a non-Microsoft middleware product as the default middleware product to be launched in place of the corresponding Microsoft middleware product."

Section III.H of the Consent Decree<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/atr/microsoft-consent-decree-compliance-advisory-august-1-2003-us-v-microsoft "Microsoft Consent Decree Compliance Advisory - August 1, 2003 : U.S. V. Microsoft"] - justice.gov - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> required Microsoft to "allow end users and OEMs to enable or remove access to all middleware products, including web browsers, e-mail clients, and media players through a readily accessible, centralized mechanism." End users and OEMs should be able "to specify a non-Microsoft middleware product as the default middleware product to be launched in place of the corresponding Microsoft middleware product."

In the case ''United States v. Microsoft Corp.,'' 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000),<ref>https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/87/30/2307082/</ref> Microsoft's conduct taken as a whole was described as a "deliberate assault upon entrepreneurial efforts that, could well have enabled the introduction of competition into the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems". Further, "Microsoft's anti-competitive actions trammeled the competitive process through which the computer software industry generally stimulates innovation and conduces to the optimum benefit of consumers."

In the case ''United States v. Microsoft Corp.,'' 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000),<ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/87/30/2307082/ "United States v. Microsoft Corp., 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000)"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> Microsoft's conduct taken as a whole was described as a "deliberate assault upon entrepreneurial efforts that, could well have enabled the introduction of competition into the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems". Further, "Microsoft's anti-competitive actions trammeled the competitive process through which the computer software industry generally stimulates innovation and conduces to the optimum benefit of consumers."

===Windows===

====Forced Updates====

Beginning with [[Windows]] 10, end users can no longer selectively choose updates. Instead, updates are automatically scheduled when a computer is inactive, or before the system is shut down.<ref>https://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/300077576/did-microsoft-just-backtrack-on-forced-updates-for-windows-10</ref> This has also led to some systems being rendered unusable because of bugged updates that cannot be avoided.<ref>https://www.tomsguide.com/news/windows-10-update-is-bricking-pcs-uninstall-this-right-now</ref><ref>https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-update-bricked-my-bios-thought-to-be/a1f0ebc7-d20d-459f-9956-72a3f98ca432</ref> Some users have resorted to disabling updates in Window's registry editor,<ref>https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/how-to-stop-win10-update.html</ref> though this prevents them from receiving security updates, which can make their systems vulnerable to attacks.

Beginning with [[Windows]] 10, end users can no longer selectively choose updates. Instead, updates are automatically scheduled when a computer is inactive, or before the system is shut down.<ref>[https://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/300077576/did-microsoft-just-backtrack-on-forced-updates-for-windows-10 "Did Microsoft Just Backtrack On Forced Updates For Windows 10?"] - crn.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> This has also led to some systems being rendered unusable because of bugged updates that cannot be avoided.<ref>[https://www.tomsguide.com/news/windows-10-update-is-bricking-pcs-uninstall-this-right-now "Windows 10 update is 'breaking' PCs — what to do now"] - tomsguide.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref><ref>[https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-update-bricked-my-bios-thought-to-be/a1f0ebc7-d20d-459f-9956-72a3f98ca432 "Windows update bricked my bios ?? Thought to be impossible ?"] - answers.microsoft.com - accessed 2025-01-29 </ref> Some users have resorted to disabling updates in Window's registry editor,<ref>[https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/how-to-stop-win10-update.html "How to Stop Windows 10 Update Permanently – 7 Ways"] - minitool.com - accessed 2025-01-29

</ref> though this prevents them from receiving security updates, which can make their systems vulnerable to attacks.

====Resetting preferences during updates====

During some Windows updates, the preferences users have set on applications that they have installed, will end up being reset to their default settings.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/n1hoz0/windows_please_stop_changing_my_settings_with/</ref><ref>https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-updated-and-reset-all-of-my-settings/529ffb03-edd4-4be2-9412-50e3271fa8fe</ref><ref>https://www.minitool.com/news/windows-settings-are-reset-after-reboot.html</ref> Users have reported this to go as far as resetting permissions for apps,<ref name=":1">https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-update-reset-my-computer-settings/e58bcee8-f4c9-40ef-a452-1dc5db7c45d9</ref><ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/y0ksm0/why_are_my_settings_changed_after_every_update/</ref><ref>https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/why-do-updates-remove-personalization-settings/0f1badb2-7486-4d31-b687-39913795aa8f</ref> which can be extremely risky for insecure software. <!-- From evidence I have found from the Discord server and my own experience, the frequency happens in larger amounts for older hardware. Preferences I set up for Greenshot, VisualStudio, Aseprite, and more get reset and it has even corrupted my data for WinAMP. I will refrain from directly mentioning it in this article until I find more public documentation.

During some Windows updates, the preferences users have set on applications that they have installed, will end up being reset to their default settings.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/n1hoz0/windows_please_stop_changing_my_settings_with/ "Windows: PLEASE STOP CHANGING MY SETTINGS WITH UPDATES"] - reddit.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref><ref>https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-updated-and-reset-all-of-my-settings/529ffb03-edd4-4be2-9412-50e3271fa8fe</ref><ref>https://www.minitool.com/news/windows-settings-are-reset-after-reboot.html</ref> Users have reported this to go as far as resetting permissions for apps,<ref name=":1">https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-update-reset-my-computer-settings/e58bcee8-f4c9-40ef-a452-1dc5db7c45d9</ref><ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/y0ksm0/why_are_my_settings_changed_after_every_update/</ref><ref>https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/why-do-updates-remove-personalization-settings/0f1badb2-7486-4d31-b687-39913795aa8f</ref> which can be extremely risky for insecure software. <!-- From evidence I have found from the Discord server and my own experience, the frequency happens in larger amounts for older hardware. Preferences I set up for Greenshot, VisualStudio, Aseprite, and more get reset and it has even corrupted my data for WinAMP. I will refrain from directly mentioning it in this article until I find more public documentation.

- James -->

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 ===Court cases up to the early 2000s===
-In a major antitrust case brought by the US Department of Justice, ''U.S. v. Microsoft Corp.,'' 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001),<ref>https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/253/34/576095/</ref> Microsoft argued that there was no barrier to entry in the market they were in. A central issue at that time was whether Microsoft could bundle the web browser Internet Explorer with the Microsoft Windows operating system. The District Court stated the following in the court case: "The District Court condemned a number of provisions in Microsoft's agreements licensing Windows to OEMs, because it found that Microsoft's imposition of those provisions (like many of Microsoft's other actions at issue in this case) serves to reduce usage share of Netscape's browser and, hence, protect Microsoft's operating system monopoly."
+In a major antitrust case brought by the US Department of Justice, ''U.S. v. Microsoft Corp.,'' 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001),<ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/253/34/576095/ "U.S. v. Microsoft Corp., 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001)"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> Microsoft argued that there was no barrier to entry in the market they were in. A central issue at that time was whether Microsoft could bundle the web browser Internet Explorer with the Microsoft Windows operating system. The District Court stated the following in the court case: "The District Court condemned a number of provisions in Microsoft's agreements licensing Windows to OEMs, because it found that Microsoft's imposition of those provisions (like many of Microsoft's other actions at issue in this case) serves to reduce usage share of Netscape's browser and, hence, protect Microsoft's operating system monopoly."
 The court specifically identified three main license restrictions for [[Original Equipment Manufacturers]] (OEMs) that were considered problematic:
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 #The prohibition of otherwise altering the appearance of the Windows desktop
-The case was eventually settled,<ref>https://www.justice.gov/atr/case-document/file/503541/dl</ref><ref>https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/373/1199/474311/</ref> and did not result in a company breakup.<ref>https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/long-antitrust-saga-ends-for-microsoft/</ref>
+The case was eventually settled,<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/atr/case-document/file/503541/dl "Final judgment of US v. Microsoft"] - justice.gov - accessed 2025-01-29</ref><ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/373/1199/474311/ "Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Ex Rel., Appellant, v. Microsoft Corporation"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> and did not result in a company breakup.<ref>[https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/long-antitrust-saga-ends-for-microsoft/ "Long antitrust saga ends for Microsoft"] - seattletimes.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref>
-Section III.H of the Consent Decree<ref>https://www.justice.gov/atr/microsoft-consent-decree-compliance-advisory-august-1-2003-us-v-microsoft</ref> required Microsoft to "allow end users and OEMs to enable or remove access to all middleware products, including web browsers, e-mail clients, and media players through a readily accessible, centralized mechanism." End users and OEMs should be able "to specify a non-Microsoft middleware product as the default middleware product to be launched in place of the corresponding Microsoft middleware product."
+Section III.H of the Consent Decree<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/atr/microsoft-consent-decree-compliance-advisory-august-1-2003-us-v-microsoft "Microsoft Consent Decree Compliance Advisory - August 1, 2003 : U.S. V. Microsoft"] - justice.gov - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> required Microsoft to "allow end users and OEMs to enable or remove access to all middleware products, including web browsers, e-mail clients, and media players through a readily accessible, centralized mechanism." End users and OEMs should be able "to specify a non-Microsoft middleware product as the default middleware product to be launched in place of the corresponding Microsoft middleware product."
-In the case ''United States v. Microsoft Corp.,'' 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000),<ref>https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/87/30/2307082/</ref> Microsoft's conduct taken as a whole was described as a "deliberate assault upon entrepreneurial efforts that, could well have enabled the introduction of competition into the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems". Further, "Microsoft's anti-competitive actions trammeled the competitive process through which the computer software industry generally stimulates innovation and conduces to the optimum benefit of consumers."
+In the case ''United States v. Microsoft Corp.,'' 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000),<ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/87/30/2307082/ "United States v. Microsoft Corp., 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000)"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> Microsoft's conduct taken as a whole was described as a "deliberate assault upon entrepreneurial efforts that, could well have enabled the introduction of competition into the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems". Further, "Microsoft's anti-competitive actions trammeled the competitive process through which the computer software industry generally stimulates innovation and conduces to the optimum benefit of consumers."
 ===Windows<!-- Reluctant to add this one unless we have more reports of this online, but I did find some microsoft support articles that mention Factory Resets happening with windows updates:  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/216587/why-a-factory-reset-without-my-permission-during-a -->===
 ====Forced Updates====
-Beginning with [[Windows]] 10, end users can no longer selectively choose updates. Instead, updates are automatically scheduled when a computer is inactive, or before the system is shut down.<ref>https://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/300077576/did-microsoft-just-backtrack-on-forced-updates-for-windows-10</ref> This has also led to some systems being rendered unusable because of bugged updates that cannot be avoided.<ref>https://www.tomsguide.com/news/windows-10-update-is-bricking-pcs-uninstall-this-right-now</ref><ref>https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-update-bricked-my-bios-thought-to-be/a1f0ebc7-d20d-459f-9956-72a3f98ca432</ref> Some users have resorted to disabling updates in Window's registry editor,<ref>https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/how-to-stop-win10-update.html</ref> though this prevents them from receiving security updates, which can make their systems vulnerable to attacks.
+Beginning with [[Windows]] 10, end users can no longer selectively choose updates. Instead, updates are automatically scheduled when a computer is inactive, or before the system is shut down.<ref>[https://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/300077576/did-microsoft-just-backtrack-on-forced-updates-for-windows-10 "Did Microsoft Just Backtrack On Forced Updates For Windows 10?"] - crn.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> This has also led to some systems being rendered unusable because of bugged updates that cannot be avoided.<ref>[https://www.tomsguide.com/news/windows-10-update-is-bricking-pcs-uninstall-this-right-now "Windows 10 update is 'breaking' PCs — what to do now"] - tomsguide.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref><ref>[https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-update-bricked-my-bios-thought-to-be/a1f0ebc7-d20d-459f-9956-72a3f98ca432 "Windows update bricked my bios ?? Thought to be impossible ?"] - answers.microsoft.com - accessed 2025-01-29 </ref> Some users have resorted to disabling updates in Window's registry editor,<ref>[https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/how-to-stop-win10-update.html "How to Stop Windows 10 Update Permanently – 7 Ways"] - minitool.com - accessed 2025-01-29
+</ref> though this prevents them from receiving security updates, which can make their systems vulnerable to attacks.
 ====Resetting preferences during updates====
-During some Windows updates, the preferences users have set on applications that they have installed, will end up being reset to their default settings.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/n1hoz0/windows_please_stop_changing_my_settings_with/</ref><ref>https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-updated-and-reset-all-of-my-settings/529ffb03-edd4-4be2-9412-50e3271fa8fe</ref><ref>https://www.minitool.com/news/windows-settings-are-reset-after-reboot.html</ref> Users have reported this to go as far as resetting permissions for apps,<ref name=":1">https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-update-reset-my-computer-settings/e58bcee8-f4c9-40ef-a452-1dc5db7c45d9</ref><ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/y0ksm0/why_are_my_settings_changed_after_every_update/</ref><ref>https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/why-do-updates-remove-personalization-settings/0f1badb2-7486-4d31-b687-39913795aa8f</ref> which can be extremely risky for insecure software. <!-- From evidence I have found from the Discord server and my own experience, the frequency happens in larger amounts for older hardware. Preferences I set up for Greenshot, VisualStudio, Aseprite, and more get reset and it has even corrupted my data for WinAMP. I will refrain from directly mentioning it in this article until I find more public documentation.
+During some Windows updates, the preferences users have set on applications that they have installed, will end up being reset to their default settings.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/n1hoz0/windows_please_stop_changing_my_settings_with/ "Windows: PLEASE STOP CHANGING MY SETTINGS WITH UPDATES"] - reddit.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref><ref>https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-updated-and-reset-all-of-my-settings/529ffb03-edd4-4be2-9412-50e3271fa8fe</ref><ref>https://www.minitool.com/news/windows-settings-are-reset-after-reboot.html</ref> Users have reported this to go as far as resetting permissions for apps,<ref name=":1">https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-update-reset-my-computer-settings/e58bcee8-f4c9-40ef-a452-1dc5db7c45d9</ref><ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/y0ksm0/why_are_my_settings_changed_after_every_update/</ref><ref>https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/why-do-updates-remove-personalization-settings/0f1badb2-7486-4d31-b687-39913795aa8f</ref> which can be extremely risky for insecure software. <!-- From evidence I have found from the Discord server and my own experience, the frequency happens in larger amounts for older hardware. Preferences I set up for Greenshot, VisualStudio, Aseprite, and more get reset and it has even corrupted my data for WinAMP. I will refrain from directly mentioning it in this article until I find more public documentation.
 - James -->