Bijan had this to say about yesterday's Microsoft rant:

And I think it's important to emphasize that MS, without its monoply, isn't competative because it has structured itself to compete by using its monopoly power.

I.e., they've "forgotten" (if they've ever knew) how to compete on a level playing field.

The split will disproportionately impair MS's ability to compete...unless they figure out *how* to function fairly.

Niel Corrected me about the Chinese wall with this link:

In the past, Microsoft has publicly professed that there is a "Chinese Wall" between the groups that produce its operating systems and those that produce its applications. Steve Ballmer, Executive VP of Sales, has even stated, that there was "a very clean separation" -- "It's like the separation of church and state"

However, Microsoft lately has changed its stance. Executives even deny that the concept of
a Chinese Wall ever existed. They feel it is quite acceptable for them to give an unfair
advantage to their applications developers by keeping new operating system specifications
private. According to Brad Silverberg, head of the personal operating systems division, "if
Microsoft chose to keep such specifications private, to give a competitive advantage to its
many software departments, that would be the company's privilege. It does own the
operating system, after all"

Interesting. I was thinking of this message that showed up on Red Rock Eaters a few days ago.