“ Embrace, extend and extinguish ” [1] or “ Embrace, extend, and exterminate ” [2] (“Support, build on, and destroy”) is a phrase used by the corporation as established by the US Department of Justice [3] Microsoft [4] to describe their strategy for introducing software that uses widely accepted standards in the industry by expanding these standards and further exploiting these differences to gain an edge over their competitors.
Tactics consist of the following steps:
- the creation and promotion on the market of its implementation of some previously existing technology based on open standards, the achievement of at least significant, if not leading, market position ( embrace );
- Adding proprietary extensions to the technology that implement the necessary features for users ( extend );
- after the accumulation of some critical mass of proprietary extensions, there is a complete rejection of the original open technology, replacing it with a proprietary technology while maintaining the appearance of the technology for users. Since at this stage the product is already the market leader, open technology is dying due to lagging behind the proprietary ( extinguish ).
Proponents of free software consider this a morally unacceptable way to create barriers to changing vendors and react extremely negatively to any attempts by Microsoft to add proprietary extensions to open standards (for example, Kerberos ).
Examples
- Browser Incompatibility: Claimants in Antitrust Claim [ who? ] that Microsoft added support for ActiveX controls to Internet Explorer to create incompatibilities with the Netscape Navigator browser, which used components based on Java and its own system of add-ons ( plug-ins ).
- Incompatibility of Java implementations: It was assumed that Microsoft could use the embrace and extend strategy in the late 1990s with respect to the Java platform (originally designed to run on various operating systems, including Windows, Mac, and Linux). Microsoft in its own implementation abandoned the Java Native Interface , replacing it with its own J / Direct , available only for Windows, but not for Linux and Mac. According to internal documents, the company tried in this way to limit the portability of the platform. [5] In January 2001, Microsoft paid Sun $ 20 million. [6]
- Network protocols: In 2000, an extended version of the Kerberos protocol (originally the Internet standard) was included in Windows 2000 Server, which violated compatibility with existing implementations. [7] The extension was published only as an executable file; its launch required agreement with the NDA , which prohibited third-party implementation of the extension, especially with open sources. Users of the Slashdot online forum posted a description of the extension in violation of the agreement with the developers; Microsoft demanded that Slashdot delete these documents. [eight]
- Text messaging systems : In 2001, CNet News.com discovered a similarity with the strategy in Microsoft's text messaging systems [9] . Microsoft first adopted the AOL standard, common in the 1990s and early 2000s, then expanded it with its own functionality, while depriving it of compatibility with AOL programs . Expanded implementation occupied a significant market share, as Microsoft OS was installed on 95% of the PC, and the MS Messenger application was provided for free. In fact, AOL's messaging programs were destroyed because AOL could not use Microsoft's proprietary protocol extensions.
- PDF format: Adobe Systems has banned Microsoft from implementing native support for displaying PDF documents, for fear of its embrace and extend strategy. [ten]
- Testimony - In 2007, Ronald Alepin testified before the court in Comes v. Microsoft , which cited quotes from internal Microsoft letters to confirm the existence of the strategy. [eleven]
- Browser incompatibilities ( CSS , data: URI , etc.): Opera Software filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in 2007 in Europe, claiming that it would use a similar strategy in browsers when implementing standards. [12]
- Nokia takeover: September 2, 2013 Microsoft, literally at the peak of its decline, buys out Nokia Mobile Phone Devices. Considered [by whom? ] that the decline was caused by the discontent of users of the Windows Phone OS installed on Nokia devices. The mobile phones of this company of the X-series (running Android OS) had completely reduced functionality. . These factors greatly influenced Nokia’s competitiveness in the global mobile device market, which led to a drop in stocks and a further purchase by Microsoft corp.
See also
- Halloween docs
- Viral license
Notes
- ↑ Deadly embrace , The Economist (March 30, 2000). Date of treatment January 23, 2009. (English)
- ↑ Microsoft limits XML in Office 2003 (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment January 23, 2009. Archived October 24, 2004. (eng.)
- ↑ US Department of Justice Proposed Findings of Fact . Date of treatment January 23, 2009. Archived March 23, 2012. (eng.)
- ↑ US Department of Justice Proposed Findings of Fact . Date of treatment January 23, 2009. Archived March 23, 2012. (eng.)
- ↑ Matt Richtel . Memos Released in Sun-Microsoft Suit , The New York Times (October 22, 1998). Date of appeal February 22, 2008. “The court documents state that in April 1997, Ben Slivka, the Microsoft manager responsible for executing the Java strategy, sent an E-mail to Microsoft's chairman, William H. Gates, noting" When I met with you last, you had a lot of pretty pointed questions about Java, so I want to make sure I understand your issues and concerns. " Mr. Slivka goes on to ask if Mr. Gates's concerns included "How do we wrest control of Java away from Sun?" and "How we turn Java into just the latest, best way to write Windows applications? ".
- ↑ Sun, Microsoft settle Java suit . Date of treatment January 23, 2001.
- ↑ Microsoft's Kerberos shuck and jive (May 11, 2000). Archived February 22, 2014.
- ↑ Microsoft Asks Slashdot To Remove Readers' Posts .
- ↑ Jim Hu. Microsoft messaging tactics recall browser wars . CNet News.com (June 7, 2001).
- ↑ CIO: Adobe Speaks Out on Microsoft PDF Battle
- ↑ Expert Testimony of Ronald Alepin in Comes v. Microsoft - Embrace, Extend, Extinguish, Groklaw , January 8, 2007.
- ↑ Opera files antitrust complaint with the EU