***OT***Could MSFT twist the truth? Please, tell me it isn't so. What would an admission like that do to their credibility, to their ability to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" in a court of law?
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dailynews.yahoo.com
Wednesday March 24 5:38 PM ET
Microsoft Milestone Reveals Earlier
Exaggeration
By Martin Wolk
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) said
Wednesday its new Web browsing software had been downloaded by more than 1 million people in
record time, forcing executives to admit the software giant exaggerated public response to the
previous version released in 1997.
In a news release, Microsoft declared that customer downloads of IE5, which was released
Thursday for free distribution over the Internet, ''more than tripled those of the previous
record-setting Internet Explorer 4.0.''
But oddly, a Microsoft executive said IE5 did not pass the 1 million mark until the fifth day after the
product launch. Back in October 1997 Microsoft trumpeted the fact that IE4 exceeded 1 million
downloads in just two days, marking a new record.
The figures should have been comparable because in both cases they represented only customers
who downloaded the software through Microsoft's own Web site, excluding the many partner sites
where the product can be found.
In an interview, Microsoft product manager Mike Nichols explained that the 1 million figure
announced in 1997 had been achieved by counting anyone who downloaded a tiny piece of code for
the browser called the ''Active Setup executable.''
Only a small percentage of those people actually had completed the process of downloading the
massive Web browser itself at the time of the announcement, he said -- a fact never previously
disclosed.
''With IE5 we made the choice to be more rigorous and count only complete downloads,'' he said.
''Either way you measure it, IE5 is more than triple the downloads'' of the previous version.
The disclosure of the misleading news release provides a glimpse into how Microsoft used its
marketing machine to buttress efforts to increase its share of the Internet browser market, which in
October 1997 still was dominated by archrival Netscape Communications Corp.
Executives of both companies say the browser market now is split about evenly between the two
companies, although Netscape, now a unit of Internet giant America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL -
news), contends its browser still holds a substantial lead in the business market.
The 1997 release of IE4 also came as the Justice Department was intensifying its investigation of
Microsoft's business practice but before it accused the software giant of improperly forcing computer
makers to install the browser along with the company's market-dominating Windows operating
system.
The government lost that case but then filed a much broader antitrust action against Microsoft that is
the subject of a landmark trial, currently in recess.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Wednesday the company is in ongoing talks to settle the
litigation. Microsoft's image has taken a beating at the trial, where government lawyers have scored
courtroom points by challenging the credibility of the company's executives on the witness stand.
Microsoft has defended its actions in part by saying it has integrated the Web browser ever more
tightly with Windows to satisfy customer demand.
Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited.
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