COLLOQUY Responses
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COLLOQUY Responses
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 Microsoft already has its foot in the door when it comes to the computing environments that students use. I have observed that nearly every student in my residence hall owns a new computer. Many are gifts from happy parents, and a few are older hand-me-downs. Almost every one of these computers runs Windows 95. There is a handful of older Windows 3.1 machines, and several Apple Macintoshes. Considering this, there is no need for Microsoft to offer even more Microsoft software -- it is already there! I consider the actions of Microsoft in offering software to universities as an anti-competitive practice, effectively forcing those remaining few to give up their environments of choice. However, I see one wonderful escape route. I run the Linux operating system on my personal computer, and I hear of more users joining the Linux community every day. There are tremendous advantages to Linux over Windows 95/NT, with the largest detractor being a lack of applications (probably the most commonly cited objection to using Linux). Linux, it has often been said, is the only non-Microsoft operating system that is seeing a growth in usage. (A few others are also growing, but none are as common.) It certainly has the power to significantly reduce the market share of Windows.
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