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Jackson6612 Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
excerpts from the Wikipedia article United States v. Microsoft
The following are the excerpts from the Wikipedia article United States v. Microsoft. The text in red is troubling me and My comments are appearing in brown.
In the videotaped demonstration of what Microsoft vice president James Allchin's stated to be a seamless segment filmed on one PC, the plaintiff noticed that some icons mysteriously disappear and reappear on the PC's desktop, suggesting that the effects might have been falsified. Allchin admitted that the blame for the tape problems lay with some of his staff "They ended up filming it -- grabbing the wrong screen shot," he said of the incident. Later, Allchin re-ran the demonstration and provided a new videotape, but in so doing Microsoft dropped the claim that Windows is slowed down when Internet Explorer is removed. [According to the principle of concordance of tenses shouldn't was be used instead of is?]
When the judge ordered Microsoft to offer a version of Windows which did not include Internet Explorer, Microsoft responded that the company would offer manufacturers a choice: one version of Windows that was obsolete, or another that did not work properly. The judge asked, "It seemed absolutely clear to you that I entered an order that required that you distribute a product that would not work?" David D. Cole, a Microsoft vice president, replied, "In plain English, yes. We followed that order. It wasn't my place to consider the consequences of that."
Microsoft vigorously defended itself in the public arena, claiming that its attempts to innovate were under attack by rival companies jealous at its success, and that government litigation was merely their pawn. [What does pawn mean here?]
Judge Jackson did not attend the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing, in which the appeals court judges accused him of unethical conduct and determined he should have recused himself from the case. [What does recused mean?]
Judge Jackson's response to this was that Microsoft's conduct itself was the cause of any "perceived bias"; Microsoft executives had "proved, time and time again, to be inaccurate, misleading, evasive, and transparently false. ... Microsoft is a company with an institutional disdain for both the truth and for rules of law that lesser entities must respect. It is also a company whose senior management is not averse to offering specious testimony to support spurious defenses to claims of its wrongdoing." [Please explain this to me]
In the videotaped demonstration of what Microsoft vice president James Allchin's stated to be a seamless segment filmed on one PC, the plaintiff noticed that some icons mysteriously disappear and reappear on the PC's desktop, suggesting that the effects might have been falsified. Allchin admitted that the blame for the tape problems lay with some of his staff "They ended up filming it -- grabbing the wrong screen shot," he said of the incident. Later, Allchin re-ran the demonstration and provided a new videotape, but in so doing Microsoft dropped the claim that Windows is slowed down when Internet Explorer is removed. [According to the principle of concordance of tenses shouldn't was be used instead of is?]
When the judge ordered Microsoft to offer a version of Windows which did not include Internet Explorer, Microsoft responded that the company would offer manufacturers a choice: one version of Windows that was obsolete, or another that did not work properly. The judge asked, "It seemed absolutely clear to you that I entered an order that required that you distribute a product that would not work?" David D. Cole, a Microsoft vice president, replied, "In plain English, yes. We followed that order. It wasn't my place to consider the consequences of that."
Microsoft vigorously defended itself in the public arena, claiming that its attempts to innovate were under attack by rival companies jealous at its success, and that government litigation was merely their pawn. [What does pawn mean here?]
Judge Jackson did not attend the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing, in which the appeals court judges accused him of unethical conduct and determined he should have recused himself from the case. [What does recused mean?]
Judge Jackson's response to this was that Microsoft's conduct itself was the cause of any "perceived bias"; Microsoft executives had "proved, time and time again, to be inaccurate, misleading, evasive, and transparently false. ... Microsoft is a company with an institutional disdain for both the truth and for rules of law that lesser entities must respect. It is also a company whose senior management is not averse to offering specious testimony to support spurious defenses to claims of its wrongdoing." [Please explain this to me]
Top answer
Microsoft dropped the claim that Windows is slowed down when Internet Explorer is removed . ] Using "was" here would indicate that the problem occurred at one point, but not anymore. By using the present "is", they indicate that the situation is ongoing.
- Microsoft dropped the claim that Windows is slowed down when Internet Explorer is removed .
- ] Using "was" here would indicate that the problem occurred at one point, but not anymore.
- By using the present "is", they indicate that the situation is ongoing.
- " David D.
- Cole, a Microsoft vice president, replied, "In plain English, yes.
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1 Answers
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Microsoft dropped the claim that Windows is slowed down when Internet Explorer is removed. [According to the principle of concordance of tenses shouldn't was be used instead of is?]
Using "was" here would indicate that the problem occurred at one point, but not anymore. By using the present "is", they in
Using "was" here would indicate that the problem occurred at one point, but not anymore. By using the present "is", they in
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