Hello Vassilis, I'm not saying Microsoft didn't have a monopoly on the OS market. I myself was under a bit of a need to go with Microsoft OS products, because when I needed to last upgrade my system, I couldn't easily have afforded a Macintosh computer new enough to perform at a level I would have found satisfactory. I also couldn't easily have afforded the applications programs I would have had to purchase to change over to that platform. I didn't easily have the time available to become as familiar with the unix / linux OS to the degree that would have substituted for my familiarity with Microsoft products, and a whole set of apps for the unix platform either. But even though not comfortably done, those were still available options. But for that matter, it might have been that I didn't even need to even be using a computer at all. But if not, I would have had to totally restructure my life because it's current structure is based on the use of a computer, not only for recreation, but to make a living. Microsoft products work pretty well for me, though by the time I've added all the third party apps, it is certainly not flawless. I wouldn't want to be running a mission critical application, such as a reactor plant control system, on it. But thankfully there are other more stable OS's better suited to such a task. I was just trying to draw a similarity between Microsoft's position in the OS market to eBays position in the online auction market, as I put forth the question of whether or not eBay has a monopoly in the online auction market for the private individual. But here's a couple of links for all to enjoy ... As I was looking into what Marvin had told us about, I ran across this which was somewhat humorous ... WHAT IF AIRLINES WERE LIKE OPERATING SYSTEMS? http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/dosprompt And for all eBay users, here is the Auction Guild's link ... http://www.auctionguild.com/ Best Regards At 09:41 PM 4/25/03 -0400, you wrote: