I have written a number of articles comparing the forced sale of Internet Explorer with the forced sale of dog food to all grocery shoppers.

The analogy is pretty good.

1.  Not all shoppers have dogs.  (Not all PCs are connected to the internet)

2.  Not all dogs want the Microsoft brand of dog food. (Not all internet users prefer IE. Microsoft even presented evidence in court that over a hundred million wanted Navigator enough to try downloading it even when they already had a browser.  You can not download without one very easily.)

3. Those who want the Microsoft brand of dog food might already have a fresh supply. (Anyone can download a free copy of IE the day before they shop for a new PC eliminating the need to be forced to buy the same thing for cash money.  Read the judges conclusions of law on this point.  He concluded that as a matter of law, IE bundled with the OS is not "free".  Everyone including your mother knows when you buy products they are not free.)

But, maybe the analogy should be with "kitty liter".  After all, human food and dog food are very similar.  People can eat dog food if they want.  It is somewhat nutritious.  At least it is not likely to kill you.  It could even sustain your life.  So dog food and human food are really the same kind of product, food for mammals.  But, operating systems and applications are very different.  Operating systems never do anything for you.  Try writing a letter with only an OS.  Even Wordpad is an application not an operating system.  And, browsers are not operating systems any more than Java, Word or Paradox are operating systems.  So the analogy should be made with a product that humans do not eat.  "Kitty liter" will do.

The problem is that the same harm is caused as with the dog food.

[For the slow learners, I will repeat the comparison in detail.].

1.  Not all shoppers have cats.  (Not all PCs are connected to the internet)

2.  Not all cats prefer the Microsoft brand of kitty liter. (Not all internet users prefer IE. Microsoft even presented evidence in court that over a hundred million wanted Navigator enough to try downloading it even when they already had a browser.  You can not download without one very easily.)

3. Those who want the Microsoft brand of kitty liter might already have a fresh supply. (Anyone can download a free copy of IE the day before they shop for a new PC eliminating the need to be forced to buy the same thing for cash money.  Read the judges conclusions of law on this point.  He concluded that as a matter of law, IE bundled with the OS is not "free".  Everyone including your mother knows when you buy products they are not free.)

So just who is it that wants to be forced to buy the Microsoft brand of kitty liter?

No body does.  Not a single consumer.

Microsoft Corporation wants to force the sale of its "kitty liter" upon everyone and in fact has the raw monopoly power to do so (and has promised to do precisely that until the Supreme Court forces it apart).  But, consumers do not want to be forced.  Not one of them do.