First off, I agree with Justin 100%.

Like most Microsoft enthusiasts, Robert forgot to mention that European browser firm that he and Balmer screwed as well when they were screwing Netscape - and I doubt that the European courts are likely to be as susceptible to Gates' lawyers' legal maneuverings as our are.

No question the guy that Netscape brought in to run the firm had no idea what he was getting into - everyone else was building portals (think of them as television network equivalents) - and he had no idea how Microsoft operated - but I think anyone who lost money investing in Netscape has a real good case against Microsoft, and will likely win any class action suit they file - regardless of who owns Netscape now (oh, it's America Online, how 'efing convenient...)

I don't "hate" Gates, or Balmer - I have met both and talked with them about various topics for I guess an hour or so, way back when they only were worth a couple billion apiece - but behind those geek images lie two hard players, and I still remember Stacker, and the Windows 3.0 rip of MacIntosh - Jobs paid Xerox good money for the rights to their GUI work -

On the other hand, the Gates-Grove Wintel alliance is about the only thing keeping Japan from ruling the e-world - But for Scully, could 'a been Jobs and that guy who ran Motorola - oh well

As for IE versus Netscape, its simply that I don't want a browser tightly tied to my operating system - and I want rugged functionality, not the bells and whistles -

In closing this harangue, I want to thank Justin once again for making everything work -

EP