Yves said:
Unfortunately, this happens because people are not paying attention when
they install photo editing software. Or, they simply do not understand the
offer being made when they install the software and the software offers to
be "the one" to open image files and by doing so will replace Microsoft
Picture and Fax Viewer as the default.
So we keep providing the same answer, but less so as people are getting more
familiar with XP and photo editing software.
"They" is an unending series of new users, and it is literally unending.
The reason they don't recognize what is happening is that each program
presents the "choice" in different language, expecting the answer "yes"
(if it presents any choice at all).
The service to the customer that needs to be provided is to present a
*warning* when he is about to change the prior behavior of the machine.
(Obviously, the dialog box should also contain a "Don't ask me again"
checkbox, for those who figure it all out.)
This kind of warning is different in degree but not in kind from a
warning that some program is attempting to rewrite the boot sector!
Your idea is fine, but try to explain this to a judge.
Apple can do this, not Microsoft!
The fact that Microsoft XP, an operating system, provides Picture and Fax
Viewer, Copy to CD, etc. is already very very close to the line of denying
software manufacturer of selling such.
The very purpose of an operating system, as it evolves over time, is to
incorporate the tools that are almost universally needed to use the
computer productively. Those tools include facilities for "browsing"
the content of the file system--like images, audio files, video files,
and so on.
The antitrust issue arises when the tools are inordinately biased toward
a particular set of data formats that are proprietary, and not standard.
For my money, an operating system should allow me to open a folder, right
click on it and have the option of sending the file names in the folder to
my printer. But no, I have to get this done from a third party software.
Microsoft thinks it is more appropriate for the operating system to print a
contact sheet of every picture in a folder, instead of providing the ability
to print all the file names in a folder!
But the reason they don't support this directly is unrelated to
antitrust issues--they are just not very responsive to customer
needs, unfortunately.
Amen to that!
-michael