Is Microsoft actually evil

Answer 1

Microsoft is not "evil" but it is ruthless and, had an adjustment problem between being a small company and a large corporation; small companies have to try practically anything to get and keep business - MS kept trying various, pretty dubious techniques (bundling IE for example) when they didn't need to. Somewhat ironically, MS also overestimated their influence. It was considered a truism in software development that if MS started working on a product which you produced then you might as well do something else; it was impossible to compete - there are very few competitors for MS Word. However, although it was considered a truism, it wasn't actually true - MS tried to impose an alternative to the internet and, spectacularly, failed. One must also consider the alternative to trying to dominate the market as MS do; do you recall companies such as Ashton Tate, Lotus or Microprose? Each, in their turn, had utterly dominated the database, spreadsheet and word processor markets. Each has disappeared.

Some people view BIG business and large corporations negatively and might even refer to them as being 'evil.' So you might say, "Yes, Microsoft is evil because they have hurt small business and monopolized the software market," while someone else might say, "Absolutely not. What an incredible company!" After all, they have done good things, like further technology.

It's kind of like war. We build missiles to bomb someone to dust; someone else takes them and goes to the moon.