It's not easy to pick a fan favorite in the AOL-Microsoft tussle. AOL wants its software included in Windows XP. But it also doesn't want Microsoft bundling Microsoft's instant messaging software in XP. Microsoft, meanwhile, wants people to only have the option of signing up with MSN when they boot up new computers, and if there's a useful piece of software out there that they can integrate into their operating system, well, bring it on.

Oh, the joys of "integration." When prevented from integrating with GPL'ed free software, Microsoft calls it a cancer. But when questioned about its habits of wiping out competing companies by making versions of their products and then including them for free in its operating system, that's praiseworthy "innovation."

The spat with AOL would be only so much déjà vu posturing between two giant conglomerates if there weren't so much at stake. For years observers of Microsoft's MSN have called it an also-ran or worse. But if MSN is the default Internet service provider for Microsoft Windows machines, and AOL users are forced to install from a CD-ROM, then it's not hard to imagine Microsoft doing to AOL what it did to Netscape. It's the same principle, the same desktop, the same leveraging of monopoly power. And this time around, if the appellate court lets Microsoft off the hook, there will be nothing to stop Microsoft from further leveraging that power at every opportunity.

Exhibit C: XP, the eternal cash register

Oh, the wonders of XP -- the next version of the Windows operating system, due for release this fall. Business users will be forced to upgrade more often, at higher prices. Regular old users better not change the hardware on their machines, or they'll have to reregister online with Microsoft, which will thus be able to keep tabs on their every computerized move. And in an added benefit for the consumer, XP comes with all kinds of newfangled copy protection, sure to fill Windows users with glee.

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From a distance, one has to wonder how Microsoft's plans to turn its software products into subscription offerings are going to go over with consumers. How are our lives enhanced by making it more difficult to install and run software that we've purchased on the different computers that we own? Could there really be a new, improved form of copy protection that doesn't end up alienating and infuriating us?

But wait -- maybe XP actually does offer hope for a better, freer future. Imagine what will happen if XP makes software piracy impossible, or at the least much more difficult. What happens next? All those people who can't afford Microsoft software will be forced to look for lower-cost (or free) alternatives, which can only boost the development of those alternatives. In its obsession with piracy, Microsoft may well be creating a market for its competition.

No wonder Microsoft has taken off the gloves with respect to free software. The federal government is no longer a threat, nor are any commercial software companies. So, suddenly, Linux is a cancer.

Microsoft triumphant, again.

The Free Software Project
Read Andrew Leonard's book-in-progress on Linux and open source -- and post your comments.