(criminal) bait and switch, long term version!

Microsoft: To secure IE, upgrade to XP

"...a steep price to pay to secure a browser that swept the market as a free, standalone product."

Great business plan. Get the world hooked on a "free" browser riddled with security holes, wait for the internet to become truly dangerous, and then scare people into upgrading their entire OS! So now we know how "free" IE is...

As if you wanted any more reasons to switch to Firefox!

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Other choice quotes from the article:

"Microsoft may be turning the lemons of its browser's security reputation into the lemonade of a powerful upgrade selling point."

[...]

"Microsoft denied it was deliberately capitalizing on the Internet's security woes to stimulate demand for XP."

[...]

"The Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser is potentially eroding Microsoft's overwhelming market share even prior to its final version 1.0 release."

[...]

"Even some Microsoft bloggers have admitted to liking Firefox."