Microsoft Has Reason to Leave Software Alone

Microsoft’s current dominance of operating systems is not in the customers’ best interest, “Rivals Enjoy FTC Inquiry of Microsoft” (March 20).

If you are a PC-compatible user, you have to have MS-DOS or your computer won’t run. The current version of DOS is not very well designed. It is not at all user friendly and not powerful enough to do many functions that operating systems for other computers perform, such as multitasking, addressing memory, etc.

Microsoft has an improved version of DOS that it has been testing for a long time. It’s not hard to understand why the firm is in no hurry to release the new version. The most popular tool you can buy to help you overcome some of DOS’ shortcomings is Windows, put out by, guess who? Microsoft. Why sell an improved version of one product if you can sell an inferior version and then persuade the public to buy another product from you as a remedy? P. T. Barnum would be proud.

The public suffers when one company dominates a market the way that Microsoft dominates the sale of IBM compatible operating systems.

LARRY WIENER

Alhambra