<A> New Book On Microsoft Promises Irreverent Insider's View
By Mark Boslet
PALO ALTO (Dow Jones)--A new book offering an irreverent insider's view of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) promises to add to the company's public-relations headaches.
The narrative, written by a former Microsoft software developer and the estranged daughter of the company's top publicist, is to hit stores May 20, just as the company's antitrust battle with the Justice Department is likely to reignite.
The 304-page book, titled "Barbarians Led By Bill Gates: Microsoft from the Inside," paints a very different picture of Microsoft than the one normally sketched by Microsoft executives and followers of the company. Described alternately as a wellspring of marketing brilliance or an evil empire, Microsoft is undeniably the dominant force in the world of personal computing and universally seen as the master of its own destiny.
But such is not the case, according to "Barbarians Led By Bill Gates," written by 13-year Microsoft veteran Marlin Eller and Jennifer Edstrom, daughter of public relations executive Pam Edstrom. Microsoft is neither business genius nor evil empire, and just as often, things happened by chance, the book says.
"Barbarians Led By Bill Gates" explores 15 years of the company's business practices, and its research created hours of taped interviews with software developers that could draw the interest of government investigators.
Co-author Eller worked at Microsoft from 1982 to 1995 and is now chairman at Sunhawk Corp., a Seattle digital music publisher. Eller was a lead developer of the initial version of Windows, and the book follows his career and interactions with executives such as Gates and Steve Ballmer.
Eller did not return a call seeking comment. But William Patrick, senior executive editor at the book's publisher, Henry Holt & Co., called Eller a "Microsoft loyalist" who enjoyed the company's early days working "elbow to elbow" with Gates, but who left when the company grew too large.
The book is a "story told by the guys in the trenches," Patrick said. It is not the story of Bill Gates' genius, but of a lot of smart people who often had to fight management to get things done, he said.
Jennifer Edstrom, also a co-author, grew up with the Microsoft culture. Her mother, who also didn't return a call seeking comment, runs Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations agency.
"I watched my mother create the Bill Gates myth in the early 80s, and I've watched her spin the Microsoft image ever since," Jennifer Edstrom said in a printed statement. "But Marlin and I have gotten to the people who actually designed the software and wrote the code...and they have quite a
different story to tell."
The book presents evidence that the Windows 95 operating system and the company's Internet Explorer browser were conceived as unrelated products, a point that could interest antitrust regulators. The Justice Department has accused Microsoft of unfairly using its monopoly in operating systems to get computer makers to sell Internet Explorer instead of Netscape Communications Corp.'s (NSCP) competing Communicator.
The case will return to Appeals Court next week amid reports that the Justice Department is considering expanding its complaint.
The book also details how Microsoft missed the start of the Internet market, but was able to roar back against Netscape, in much the same way it engineered a come-from-behind victory against Go Corp. in pen computing. It delves as well into the question of much the original Windows interface borrowed from rival software developed by Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) of the Macintosh.
As to the tape, "The Department of Justice simply should have talked to Marlin and Jennifer a long time ago," Patrick said. "If they had, they'd now have a much deeper understanding of the Microsoft culture that landed the company in all this hot water in the first place. They'd also have hours of taped conversations with key, hands-on developers happily spilling the beans."
A Microsoft spokeswoman said the company hasn't been given a copy of the book, which Henry Holt is keeping carefully under wraps, and can't comment on specifics.
The authors are entitled to their opinions, said spokeswoman Claire LeMatta. |
