Living To Tell The Tale > Computer, Mon Amour > What's In Your Computer?

What's In Your Computer?
And Why You Should Care ...

If you use any kind of computer, chances are that what's inside it is some form of Microsoft Windows: 98, ME, or XP. Over 90% of personal computers (PCs) come with it preinstalled by the vendor. You probably also use Microsoft Word for your word processing needs, Excel for spreadsheets, Internet Explorer for web surfing, Outlook for email, and so on - all of them Microsoft products that come as part of the package. People have come to take these tools so much for granted, that they don't even stop to think about it: to all intents and purposes, personal computing means Microsoft.

But should Christians, especially, simply go along with this general acceptance of Microsoft's near monopoly? I believe there are many reasons why we should not only not accept it, but also be asking serious questions about the implications of the present situation.

Microsoft is greedy software. In order to keep their profits up in a market which in many places is just about saturated, Microsoft has to be continually updating its operating system and programs. Each upgrade adds 'features' which are unnecessary to all but a few users, yet everyone has to pay for them, and the greatly increased size of the program requires extra computing power, more powerful processors, extra memory. This often means that when updates come out, you have to buy a newer, more powerful computer to run them on. When most people use their computers for little more than word processing, simple book-keeping and using the Internet, this is a bit like owning a jumbo jet to take you to the corner shop.

Microsoft is expensive software. In spite of all that you pay for it, you don't actually own the software you buy. Read the licence: it will tell you you are only allowed to use it on one computer; and in future the software manufacturers may even find ways of making it impossible for you to use it on the same computer, if you modify that beyond a certain point. Although there are supposed to be special licences for educational institutions and health services, the cost to the NHS alone of using Microsoft runs into many billions of pounds.

Microsoft is dangerous software. It's dangerous because it is often poorly designed, and has security flaws which allow criminals to manufacture harmful viruses, Trojan horses and other programs which can invade, disrupt, and spy on unprotected computers, or even take them over and use them for illegal or immoral purposes like sending spam emails.

Microsoft's monopoly is harmful to the computing industry. Monopoly is never good because it stifles competition and choice. Although Microsoft claims to foster innovation, most of its so-called innovations have involved buying up a successful idea, marketing it aggressively, and putting competitors out of business. The European Union recently imposed a heavy fine for such practices, but it seems unlikely that this will have much effect.

For these and other reasons, it would be good for more people, and especially Christians, to challenge the status quo, and bear witness against it, by the computing choices they make. But what can we do about it, practically? The simple answer is: see if there is an alternative to the Microsoft version of whatever program you want to use, and use it instead. Just using an alternative email program may make many computer viruses practically harmless to your machine.

Some alternatives to Microsoft:

And there are lots more! I would be happy to answer any questions, or enter into discussion, about the issues raised here. You can contact me by email Or you may prefer to visit one of these websites: Living without Microsoft or (more militant) Kein Mitleid für Microsoft

©Tony Price, 2004

Written for The Door, the Oxford Diocesan newspaper.

Living To Tell The Tale > Computer, Mon Amour > What's In Your Computer?