Interesting how we have all read about the evils of Microsoft over the past decade, starting with the Justice Department's efforts in 1999.  However, when one takes a close look at the behavior of many companies, doing what is necessary to be competitive is common practice.  Take Apple for example.  After the market crash, during the Fall of 2008 Apple shares dropped to $90 per share, and Apple is now at $165 per share and riding high.  On the other hand, Apple is clearly not what one would call an "open company".  The Macintosh product line and the OS X operating system is built on top of Intel based processors, yet don't dare try to run OS X on a Dell Intel based processor, or for that matter an Intel based processor from anyone other than Apple.

When I started iPhone software development I searched the Internet long and hard for a means to run the iPhone SDK and Objective X (XCode, etc) and OS X within a Microsoft Virtual PC (VPC).  I found one hacker who spent hours trying such and was moderately successfully, however no doubt he violated numerous license agreements along the way.

And then there is the Apple iPhone App Store.  My previous blog posts support my view that the iPhone product line is a revolutionary product line, however it is clearly not what one would call an "open product line".   The Apple iPhone App Store places Apple into the role of King-Maker.

Here is an interesting article from this morning's Wall Street Journal that may suggest a reversal may be forthcoming in Apple's behavior.