State antitrust legislators submitted a brief to federal court that said some really interesting things. The brief was a sort of followup report in the long-standing federal antitrust case against Microsoft.

Some of the things this report includes are:

"The relevant markets — those for Intel-compatible PC operating systems and Web browsers — have not experienced the rapid development that the court had anticipated they might when it limited the initial term of the Final Judgments to five years,"

In response to Microsoft’s claim that web-based technologies represent a threat to Windows, they say:

"While these companies’ products provide some functionality for users, they still depend upon a PC operating system and browser — the two spaces where Microsoft dominates — and thus they are not yet able to reduce the applications barrier to entry."

"The ‘Internet Platform’ … does not even exist, much less constitute for the foreseeable future a practical or viable alternative to the desktop platform"

"Firefox has yet to reach a level of penetration and use that Microsoft’s own internal measures indicate is necessary for survival and for the all-important ability to influence developer choices. With a market share of less than 20%, Firefox does not have the influence to promote the adoption of alternatives to standards or extensions advanced by Microsoft."

They even bash Apple, saying the company is too weak to compete with Microsoft.

"In spite of the advantages of arguably superior products and missteps by Microsoft, Apple has been unable to raise its share of the worldwide installed base of PCs, hovering near 3%."

All this is said to argue for the continued judicial protection of Microsoft’s competition.

What’s interesting to me here is that the government is going right up against what people like my see every day. They also miss several very important points. For one, the "internet platform" certainly IS a threat to Windows dominance. Why? Because it is platform independent. A person could use OS X, Linux, Windows or anything else and still use the Internet. As the "internet platform" becomes even more prominent (and its very prominent already), more and more people will realize they can accomplish the same task regardless of the device they use. So, Microsoft is right to say that is a threat to their dominance.

As for Firefox, sure it is still not used as much as Internet Explorer, but that is only a matter of education. Most even fairly computer literate folks use Firefox. Those who stick with IE do so either out of ignorance or because they have to for corporate reasons.

As for Apple, well, maybe they have a point. Apple gets a lot of attention among techies and is the love child of a lot of geeks today. But, their market share is still really low. And, you know, I think Apple kind of realizes their position. This is why they are turning more to gadgets like the Ipod and the Iphone. I think Apple realizes they can’t compete with Microsoft head on, so they keep the fight going and move into other markets where they succeed. OS X is superior in many ways, but most of the world doesn’t know that and probably never will.

So, what do you think? Is the government saying the truth? Being short-sighted? Being stupid?