Attila: I'm surprised at you. I thought you were anarcho-capitalist. Oh, well; I have a few pithy comments in reply to your post (but anything beyond this will be in private email). I'm tempted to say back to you, as you just recently stated: "if you have not walked in the other's shoes, keep silent." Have you read any of the books on Microsoft or Bill Gates? I think this would provide you with additional perspective on your conclusions about him and the company. But think about this: . no company which MS has done business with has been coerced into dealing with the company and its products. Those who felt compelled to do business on Billg's terms were influenced by their desire to reap the lucrative benefits of it. . no customer has been coerced into purchasing the products offered; they were not prevented from shopping for computers from companies which do not pre-install the OS; if it was already installed on the machines they purchased, they were free to delete it, they were not coerced into using it or into upgrading to the next release. . not only have many software companies not take advantage of the opportunities created for cashing in on the unexpected popularity of MS software, . there have been occasions where competitors failed to see opportunities in the market which Microsoft did and took aim for, or . attempted business deals/associations among competitor software companies did not come about, thus failing to create a concerted competitive threat to Microsoft, or . a dominant software product from a competitor suffered in the market place, (sometimes from the fault of "bad management"), thus again giving the advantage to Microsoft. Often it has been what the competition *didn't do*, which gave Microsoft the advantage in the "market place", rather than any amazing magical business savvy or "unethical business practices". Nevertheless, as someone at MS said, "it isn't the customers who are complaining". There have been many willing participants, apparently, who have cooperated (or "conspired", if you will) in making the company the success which it has become. And continue to do so. .. Blanc p.s. Nuri-logical: I like your idea for a "dog-eat-dog" welfare fund.