Mozilla: Threat to Windows or boilerplate risk factor?
InformationWeek made a big deal of Microsoft citing Mozilla as a competitor to Windows in its annual report, but the report is a bit overblown.
Microsoft always paints a picture of the competitive landscape in when it files its annual 10-K report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In a sign of the times, there are a few new clouds when this year's report was filed Thursday, including a Web browser's first appearance as a threat to Windows, Microsoft's biggest cash cow.
Well not quite. For starters, Mozilla has been a regular in Microsoft's annual report in recent years.
Here's 2008's annual report passage on Mozilla:
The Windows operating system also faces competition from alternative platforms and new devices that may reduce consumer demand for traditional personal computers. Competitors such as Mozilla offer software that competes with the Internet Explorer Web browsing capabilities of Windows products. Apple Computer, Real Networks, and others compete with Windows Media Player. Our operating system products compete effectively by delivering innovative software, a familiar, easy-to-use interface, compatibility with a broad range of hardware and software applications, and the largest support network for any operating system.
However, it's not like Mozilla was discovered by Microsoft yesterday. From the 2007 annual report:
The Windows operating system also faces competition from alternative platforms and new devices that may reduce consumer demand for traditional personal computers. Competitors such as Mozilla offer software that competes with the Internet Explorer Web browsing capabilities of Windows products. Apple Computer, Real Networks, and others compete with Windows Media Player. Our operating system products compete effectively by delivering innovative software, a familiar, easy-to-use interface, compatibility with a broad range of hardware and software applications, and the largest support network for any operating system.
That's a carbon copy risk factor folks. It's a boilerplate paragraph in the annual report. In fact, Microsoft has cited Mozilla at least since its 2005 annual report.