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Is Microsoft a monopoly?

Microsoft has lost its appeal against a record $690m fine imposed by the European Commission.
Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Senior Contributing Editor

Microsoft has lost its appeal against a record $690m fine imposed by the European Commission.

The European Court of First Instance upheld the ruling that Microsoft had abused its dominant market position.

A probe concluded in 2004 that Microsoft was guilty of freezing out rivals in server software and products such as media players. 

There are about a billion PCs in the tech ecosystem and more than 80% of them run Microsoft operating system.

Four questions:

First, is Microsoft a monopoly?

[poll id=176]

Second, if you think that it is, what should be done about it?

Thirdly, what are your thoughts on the fine imposed?

Finally, what are your thoughts on this:

"A market level of much less than 95 percent would be a way of measuring success," European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told a news conference, referring to the market share of Microsoft's Windows operating system.

"You can't draw a line and say exactly 50 (percent) is correct, but a significant drop in market share is what we would like to see," she said.

Thoughts?

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