I am a former Microsquash employee and I tell you from an insiders view that Microsoft is indeed very guilty of anti-competitive practices. Just because they managed to wiggle out of the DOJ lawsuit does not make them innocent of the charges, it just means they had better lawers.
This is a very one-sided article that completely ignores Microsofts culpability. And totally misunderstands the interoperability problems.
The Fact is that Microsquash is guilty as all heck of monopolistic practices. Fact is that Microsquash is guilty of trying to change their network file system to prevent other products such as Linux from being able to interoperate.
Fact is that Microsquash has patented key aspects of their technology in order to prevent open source software from being able to interact with their new system.
Fact is that Microsquash did everything it could to screw Real Audio and to lock people into their media player. Want to see some evidence? Try browsing the MSDN site with Firefox or other non-Microsoft browser. Notice all of the ads that have no problem playing multimedia video??? Now try looking at an official video. Notice the page which comes up and says that you must use Microsoft Internet Explorer in order to view Microsofts website! Do you understand how bogus it is? All kinds of examples of how Firefox can work just fine on their site when they want to show you a video ad; but is explicitly excluded from doing so when you want to view their content. This is the dark-side of owning half the world and being greedy enough to want the rest.
Fact is that the new High Definition DVD systems are designed such that they will only work with Microsoft operating systems. And that this will be enforced by patents on the technology.
When it comes to server software, Linux delivers higher reliability and performance, and is cheaper than Microsquash. When it comes to desktop software Linux is almost as good in some respects, and far better in other respects. and Linux keeps getting better.
Microsoft's pricing strategy for business server software can best be described as greed incorporated. First they charge an arm and a leg for the software and then after you have paid that, they charge you for each user who is allowed to connect to the server, in fact they charge you double, if you want to use WTS you get to pay again.
Microsoft is guilty as sin, of monopolistic practices, I have witnessed it with my own eyes. For example, the MS Word team had both insider knowleged of the operating system, and also requested and received special undocumented changes to the operating system, in order to enable MS Word to perform better. I'm not making this up, I used to be a member of the MS Word team. And then there was the stunt the pulled with Dr. DOS... (look it up). They have a long and checkered history of leveraging success in one area to give an unfair advantage to their other products.
It is only the EU which has had the guts to put some limits on this thug of a company.
One of the reasons I left Microsquash is because I was disgusted by their arrogance and their attitude towards their customers.

We need more innovation and if Microsoft takes a hit, so be it. This company has stiffled inovation in the software industry for years. We need a breath of fresh air. It cannot be good for any sector. Imagine if there was only a GM or Ford with just a few small other producers like Smart Just think what type of car you would be driving.