BOYCOTT MICROSOFT

http://www.vcnet.com/bms/: ("Quote Compendium" Dept.) "We build confusing systems. That's true in the software and true in the hardware. The number of questions that we get on our support lines imply that we together haven't done a very good job. The questions I get from my mother imply we haven't done a very good job. Systems don't function out of the box. We actually did a few surveys where we went and bought systems, and we were surprised at how many, you plug them in and they actually didn't work. That's going to give us all a very bad reputation. If you upgrade the software or hardware, it's way too difficult." JIM ALLCHIN, Microsoft Senior Vice President "Last month, [Bill] Gates insisted to the U.S. Senate that his company is perennially vulnerable to new competitors snapping at its heels; this month he's holding the national well-being for ransom by insisting that any government interference with a single product release will unleash doom upon us all. Out of one side of its mouth, Microsoft tells us it's no monopoly; out of the other, it insists that it's the sole engine driving our economy. Well, Bill, which is it? You can't have it both ways." SCOTT ROSENBERG, Salon Magazine http://www.vcnet.com/bms/