(UPDATE) Gates Hints Of Possible Delays For Already Tardy Windows 2000
Dow Jones Online News, Wednesday, August 25, 1999 at 16:21
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates Wednesday
said he is "pretty sure" the long-delayed Windows 2000 operating system
will be ready by year's end but left open the possibility that the
product could be held back because of testing.
"Quality is key," Gates said. Microsoft (MSFT) has cited quality
issues before in delaying release of test versions of Windows 2000. The
software is intended as the successor to Windows NT, Microsoft's
operating system for high-powered computers and corporate networks.
Once complete, Windows 2000 would be Microsoft's showcase product but
it has been plagued by delays. The final test version wasn't shipped
until May, and a December launch would put the commercial release about
18 months behind the original schedule.
Earlier this month, Microsoft confirmed that it would release Windows
2000 by the end of this year with plans to unveil its Windows 2000
DataCenter Server software 90 to 120 days after the operating system is
on the market. Gates' remarks Wednesday hinted that those targets are
questionable.
In the meantime, Microsoft's delays have opened opportunities for its
competitors, particularly Sun Microsystems Inc. and its Unix operating
system and Novell Inc., with its NetWare system. Analysts say the
growing popularity of the nonproprietary Linux operating system could
further damp enthusiasm for Windows 2000, which is meant to handle all
but the biggest corporate-computing jobs.
Gates and his fellow technology mogul - Dell Computer Chief Executive
Michael Dell - spent much of the initial session of Dell's two-day
conference in Austin, Taxas, stressing the importance of the Internet in
corporate America.
They warned the executives in attendance that the Internet will be
used either by them or against them as it grows in popularity. The
Internet "is like a weapon sitting on a table, ready to be picked up
either by you or your competitors," Dell said.
Both he and Gates then eagerly demonstrated their companies'
respective hardware and software products designed to make computer use
and Internet commerce easier and more pervasive.
Among other things, Dell unveiled what the company is calling the
"Dell OpenManage Resolution Assistant," which will be available on Dell
PowerEdge servers.
Users of the system can allow Dell technicians access to their
computers over the Internet, enabling the technicians to diagnose and
correct problems from elsewhere.
Dell expects to unveil a similar system for some of its consumer
products this fall. Eventually, the company expects to provide such
automated support across all of its product lines.
"This is the beginning of what we call self-healing systems," Dell
said.
Dell also predicted that the distinction between "dot-com" companies
and traditional business will become insignificant in coming years. "We
believe that the Internet will be your business," he said.
Citing his own Round Rock, Texas-based company as an example, he said
firms that use the Internet can reduce transaction costs and speed up
time-to-market for products. Dell, the No. 1 direct seller of PCs,
provides its corporate customers and suppliers with access to inventory
information online.
Dell has a system it calls "valuechain.dell.com" that provides
suppliers with secure access to its inventory data, giving them "a
direct view into the manufacturing process," Dell said.
Such systems brings "a dramatic reduction in the cost of transactions
and the costs of interactions" between businesses, he said.
Microsoft's Gates, speaking after Dell, stuck mostly to themes
detailed in his new book, "Business @ the Speed of Thought." In the
book, Gates outlines how corporations must learn to use technology to
reap maximum value from the information they generate.
Gates also said Microsoft has increased its software
research-and-development budget by 25% for this fiscal year, to $3.8
billion.
He said the money will be spent developing Windows products
specifically for the World Wide Web, as well as developing new computer
interfaces, such as voice-recognition software and
handwriting-recognition software.
Responding to an audience question, Gates said he thinks the biggest
threat to his company's preeminence has to do with maintaining its
competitive edge.
"The problem of success is making sure people (within Microsoft)
maintain that innovation," Gates said. "You don't let somebody come
along like we did and change the rules of the game."
Copyright (c) 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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