Google, Microsoft cease six-year truce on legal disputes
The 2015 deal that saw Microsoft and Google agree not to sue each other has not been renewed, potentially because Microsoft appears to have escaped the US government's Big Tech legislation plans.
The truce began shortly after Sundar Pichai (pictured) took over at Google, and Satya Nadella became Microsoft CEO
In late 2015, around 20 different international lawsuits between Microsoft and Google were abruptly ended when the two firms negotiated a settlement. That settlement was believed to include some financial arrangements, but it chiefly saw the two form a pact which has only now ended.
According to the Financial Times, the truce arrangement had been due to be renewed in April 2021. However, reportedly both sides decided against continuing it.
As well as settling the then-ongoing lawsuits, and agreeing not to launch any new suits, the truce was intended to mean that the two companies would work closer together. The Financial Times says unspecified sources claim the deal did nothing to improve cooperation in areas where the two firms compete, such as office applications, and cloud storage.
Another source says that Google had benefited more from the deal than Microsoft. Reportedly, Microsoft had hoped that working with Google like this would result in Windows being able to run Android apps, which it is only now starting to do.
There is also the issue that at present, the US House Judiciary Committee has been pressing ahead with a series of bills designed specifically to curb certain facets of Big Tech companies. Google is repeatedly mentioned in the bills and debates, as is Apple, but Microsoft has not been included.
Separately, Microsoft has denied that there has been any lobbying on its part, to keep it out of the proposed legislation.
Keep up with everything Apple in the weekly AppleInsider Podcast -- and get a fast news update from AppleInsider Daily. Just say, "Hey, Siri," to your HomePod mini and ask for these podcasts, and our latest HomeKit Insider episode too.If you want an ad-free main AppleInsider Podcast experience, you can support the AppleInsider podcast by subscribing for $5 per month through Apple's Podcasts app, or via Patreon if you prefer any other podcast player.
The truce began shortly after Sundar Pichai (pictured) took over at Google, and Satya Nadella became Microsoft CEO
In late 2015, around 20 different international lawsuits between Microsoft and Google were abruptly ended when the two firms negotiated a settlement. That settlement was believed to include some financial arrangements, but it chiefly saw the two form a pact which has only now ended.
According to the Financial Times, the truce arrangement had been due to be renewed in April 2021. However, reportedly both sides decided against continuing it.
As well as settling the then-ongoing lawsuits, and agreeing not to launch any new suits, the truce was intended to mean that the two companies would work closer together. The Financial Times says unspecified sources claim the deal did nothing to improve cooperation in areas where the two firms compete, such as office applications, and cloud storage.
Another source says that Google had benefited more from the deal than Microsoft. Reportedly, Microsoft had hoped that working with Google like this would result in Windows being able to run Android apps, which it is only now starting to do.
There is also the issue that at present, the US House Judiciary Committee has been pressing ahead with a series of bills designed specifically to curb certain facets of Big Tech companies. Google is repeatedly mentioned in the bills and debates, as is Apple, but Microsoft has not been included.
Separately, Microsoft has denied that there has been any lobbying on its part, to keep it out of the proposed legislation.
Keep up with everything Apple in the weekly AppleInsider Podcast -- and get a fast news update from AppleInsider Daily. Just say, "Hey, Siri," to your HomePod mini and ask for these podcasts, and our latest HomeKit Insider episode too.If you want an ad-free main AppleInsider Podcast experience, you can support the AppleInsider podcast by subscribing for $5 per month through Apple's Podcasts app, or via Patreon if you prefer any other podcast player.
Comments
Lots of campaign donations in that IMO.
https://i0.wp.com/www.ped30.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2812.gif?ssl=1
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/microsoft-has-evaded-the-antitrust-scrutiny-of-its-rivals-playing-the-white-knight-11624897722?siteid=yhoof2
>Microsoft’s diversionary tactics were called into question last week during markup of a package of sweeping antitrust bills designed to rein in Big Tech. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., claimed on the House floor that an early draft of the bills that would have covered Microsoft was rewritten to have the company carved out. Original versions of the draft bills, he pointed out, defined “online platform” as including “operating systems” while the amended versions that were introduced and approved define “online platform” to only include “mobile operating systems.”
This would mean Windows is not a covered platform under the bills. Earlier drafts also included a much lower total of monthly active users (500,000) to be a target of the bill, but it was raised to 50 million, which would exclude Microsoft’s Xbox videogame console. (The bills target companies based on the definition of a “covered platform” with 50 million MAUs or 100,000 monthly active business users run by a company with a market cap of more than $600 billion.)<
Now while not having a mobile platform hurts, Windows is the dominant primary computing platform by a mile and this gives Microsoft much more influence than most Apple fans like to admit. (Including the objective fact that Intel isn't going anywhere so long as AMD is stuck being #3 behind Apple and Qualcomm for TSMC's business.) While mobile is extremely profitable - especially for Apple - it is nonetheless a secondary computing platform. Where ChromeOS can be a primary computing platform for two widely divergent demographics - highly skilled people i.e. tech workers who can utilize Linux/SaaS/cloud apps on one hand and people who only need a browser and an occasional mobile app on the other - for most people Chromebooks are for Windows users what iPads are to macOS users.
"Microsoft’s diversionary tactics were called into question last week during markup of a package of sweeping antitrust bills designed to rein in Big Tech. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., claimed on the House floor that an early draft of the bills that would have covered Microsoft was rewritten to have the company carved out. Original versions of the draft bills, he pointed out, defined “online platform” as including “operating systems” while the amended versions that were introduced and approved define “online platform” to only include “mobile operating systems.”
Pretty obvious that MS has friends in high places.
The data shows that Chrome OS has been stealing share from Windows, not Mac OS.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/the-worlds-second-most-popular-desktop-operating-system-isnt-macos-anymore/
"Despite the fact that macOS landed in third, viewing this as an example of Google beating out Apple directly might not be accurate. Rather, it's likely that Chrome OS has been primarily pulling sales and market share away from Windows at the low end of the market. Mac market share actually grew from 6.7 percent in 2019 to 7.5 percent in 2020.
Meanwhile, Chrome OS skyrocketed from 6.4 percent in 2019 to 10.8 percent in 2020. Windows fell from 85.4 percent to 80.5 percent.
The trend looks to be in Google's favor here, but 2020 was far from a normal year. Last month, IDC's report on PC sales showed the first year of consistent growth of traditional PC (desktop, laptop, workstation) sales in years. Even then, IDC indicated that the increase in sales was driven in large part by the expansion of Chromebooks both within and outside of the education market.
As students in many communities have had to attend class virtually from home and their parents have had to do work remotely, too, PC sales jumped during the year. Chrome OS was a big part of that. But the entire market grew overall, not just Chrome OS. IDC also noted that gaming PCs were a big driver of growth, and it was a particularly strong year for the Mac.
As some of the world may find a new kind of post- or late-pandemic normalcy later this year or next year, new sales figures will give a clearer indication of where things will go in the future, not just how they went in 2020. But at least in the education space, the future of Chrome OS looks fairly bright."
I could also argue that Apple has been very successful with the launch of the M Series, and that should give Apple some notable sales growth in the future.
The way I see this, is that the race for marketshare is Microsoft's to lose, and Chrome OS's to win, but Apple is quite happy just to be seeing increased Mac sales.
Imagine the iKnockoff morons defending a crappy Chromebook against an M3 Mac!!
@Tmay
And yeah, no ones dumping their Macs to buy a Chromebook.