INTERVIEW - Microsoft sees 4-month review biz.yahoo.com
Harvey, before the usual sardonic excerps here, any real info on what MSFT was actually going to file? I can guess, but I like to keep up.
''The heck of it is that the order doesn't permit by its plain meaning a workable compliance,'' Neukom said.''The result is the operating system doesn't work very well -- if at all.''
Not to repeat myself or anything, but that seems to be the case with OSR2, with or without IE3. Of course, the old reformat, reinstall works wonders sometimes.
Microsoft also is offering computer makers the option of installing a 2-year-old version of Windows 95 without browsing capabilities. The order also allows computer makers to continue shipping the standard version of Windows 95 with the Internet Explorer browser.
So, what, exactly, do you get when you install OSR2 but not IE? I know, a fractured, fragmented system with no integrity or uniformity, but I'd sort of like to hear something more specific.
Neukom reiterated Microsoft's argument that including the browser is a ''tiny incremental extension'' to the capabilities of the operating system.
Right, the web browser is just like disk defrag or solitaire. I've only seen that one about 100 times in various forums in the last few days.
In a conference call with analysts and reporters, Microsoft executives said integration of various features into a computer operating system was no different from integration of a car and its engine, or various components of a stereo.
Methinks the Microsofties ought to lay off the car metaphor, lest somebody inform them how much the government has to do with the automobile industry on the regulatory front. Of course, we all know how unfair that is, too, but we live with it.
Microsoft vice president Brad Chase extended the argument, saying software companies are no different than bakers who ''integrate'' sugar, flour, chocolate and other ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies.
''It is the baking of those ingredients that brings together something t hat has great value for customers,'' Chase said. ''That's what software code does. It brings these pieces together for customers.''
Of course, I don't need to state again precisely how baked I find the Windows experience. Can't wait to get my hands on NT2k, the OS for the Next Millenium, just got to make sure I got plenty of antacids on hand, maybe a little of what my girls call syrup of upachuck.
Cheers, Dan. |
