Editing Criticism of Microsoft (section)

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[[Microsoft]] has been criticized for various aspects of its products and business practices. Issues with [[ease of use]], [[Robustness (computer science)|robustness]], and [[computer security|security]] of the company's software are common targets for critics. In the 2000s, a number of [[malware]] mishaps targeted security flaws in [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] and other products. Microsoft was also accused of locking vendors and consumers in to their products, and of not following or complying with existing standards in its software.<ref name="ecis-ms-history">{{cite web |url=http://www.ecis.eu/documents/Finalversion_Consumerchoicepaper.pdf |title=Microsoft A History of Anticompetitive Behavior and Consumer Harm |access-date=May 25, 2009 |date=March 31, 2009 |publisher=European Committee for Interoperable Systems |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618155904/http://www.ecis.eu/documents/Finalversion_Consumerchoicepaper.pdf |archive-date=June 18, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/04/25/writing_history_with_microsofts_office/|title=Writing history with Microsoft's Office lock-in|last=Orlowski|first=Andrew|date=April 25, 2003|website=[[The Register]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517044456/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/04/25/writing_history_with_microsofts_office/|archive-date=May 17, 2019|url-status=live|access-date=May 17, 2019}}</ref> [[Total cost of ownership]] comparisons between [[Linux]] and Microsoft Windows are a continuous point of debate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cioupdate.com/budgets/article.php/1477911/Linux-TCO-Less-Than-Half-The-Cost-of-Windows.htm |title=Linux TCO: Less Than Half The Cost of Windows |access-date=January 29, 2015 |last=Orzech |first=Dan |date=April 29, 2009 |work=CIO Updates |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208071606/http://www.cioupdate.com/budgets/article.php/1477911/Linux-TCO-Less-Than-Half-The-Cost-of-Windows.htm |archive-date=February 8, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The company has been the subject of numerous [[lawsuits]], brought by several governments and by other companies, for unlawful monopolistic practices. It was the subject of the [[Lists of landmark court decisions|landmark]] 1998 [[United States v. Microsoft Corp.]] American [[antitrust law]] case, during which Microsoft CEO [[Bill Gates]] was called "evasive and unresponsive" and the company's officials were found on a number of occasions to have falsified evidence.<ref>{{Citation |last=McCullagh |first=Declan |title=Feds Accuse MS of Falsification |date=February 2, 1999 |newspaper=Wired |df=mdy-all |url=https://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,17689,00.html |access-date=November 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115024801/http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/1999/02/17689 |archive-date=January 15, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=McCullagh |first1=Declan |date=1999-02-16 |title=Compaq: It Was All a Big Mix-Up |url=https://www.wired.com/1999/02/compaq-it-was-all-a-big-mix-up/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031232332/https://www.wired.com/1999/02/compaq-it-was-all-a-big-mix-up/ |archive-date=2020-10-31 |magazine=Wired}}</ref> In 2004, the [[European Union]] found Microsoft guilty in the ''[[Microsoft Corp. v. Commission]]'' case, and it received an 899 million euro fine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/microsoft-eu/eu-fines-microsoft-record-899-million-euros-idUSBRU00634320080227|title=EU fines Microsoft record 899 million euros|website=[[Reuters]]|access-date=August 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831090402/https://www.reuters.com/article/microsoft-eu/eu-fines-microsoft-record-899-million-euros-idUSBRU00634320080227|archive-date=August 31, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>