Tech, since this is a MSFT board there are a few interesting MSFT oriented pointed in the Cover Page article about Novell on Barron's...
F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that "there are no second acts in American lives," and the same might be said of American technology
companies. Right now Apple Computer is struggling to regain its former glory, as is Hewlett-Packard. You could even suggest, as
Barron's has, that Microsoft's best days are behind it. But one company that has startled Silicon Valley by recovering from a
near-death experience is Novell, the software outfit that is now cashing in on the Internet craze.
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Trading at a recent 20, or 43 times expected earnings for the current fiscal year, the stock may look pricey. But compared to most Internet stocks, or even compared to Microsoft, with its price-to-earnings ratio of 60, Novell qualifies as a bargain.
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Novell's success comes in part at the expense of Microsoft. For once, it's Bill Gates who has made a few mistakes. Stung by
criticism that Microsoft's Windows NT is not robust enough to handle big corporate networks running hundreds of computers,
Gates' technical wizards have spent the last four years developing Windows 2000, a much-vaunted upgrade. But it is no simple fix.
Windows 2000 ranks as the biggest commercial software project ever undertaken, with more than 30 million lines of code. The
project has been excruciatingly hard to pull off. It's now reported to be running at least two years behind schedule. Many analysts
doubt that the new product will be shipped before the end of this year. Some think it won't happen until the middle of next year.
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"Novell's NDS is extremely useful and can help reduce the costs of managing networks significantly," says Laura DiDio, senior
analyst with the Giga Information Group. "It is also a much better product than anything Microsoft is likely to come up with. For
once, Microsoft has come up short." Yeah Right - For ONCE?
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Another institutional investor goes further: "Microsoft does not offer a complete solution for the Internet. In fact, they are nowhere
close. And meanwhile, the market for directory software is going to double in size every month."
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Even if Microsoft's Active Directory product eventually proves to be a big success for department managers running small to
mid-sized business networks, it seems unlikely to become the solution of choice for large corporations needing massive Internet
power.
Article Part 1
netcognizance.com
Article - Part 2
netcognizance.com
Just some intesesting clips...
Toy |
