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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JP Sullivan who wrote (27884)	8/5/1999 10:52:00 AM
From: gao seng	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

MSFT been after AOL all along, only DOJ has been protecting AOL. Seems like the DOJ case is over. I also like Microsoft Money user interface, and think the functionality could be greatly expanded.

To: JP Sullivan who wrote (27884)	8/5/1999 11:00:00 AM
From: Sir Francis Drake	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

Aaaah, it's good to be short AOL. Love it. Morgan

To: JP Sullivan who wrote (27884)	8/5/1999 1:02:00 PM
From: Jon Stept	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 74651

Winston, Free ISP access a threat to AOL? I am not convinced that it is time to hammer the nails in the AOL coffin. Free ISPs alone are definitely not a threat to AOL as some have been around (FreeI.net) and others are just entering (Brand 3 and Net Zero) some with unique models. None of these have been seen by the industry as a threat to AOL. As you probably know, the only threat that has been weighing on AOL is the broadband access issue. Free anything does not mean that it will drive the competitior out of business. Are Free PCs a threat to PC manufacturers? I don't think the industry has percieved it as such. Maybe the "free" issue reminds all of us of the browser wars and how Microsoft captured the internet browser market. Will free ISP access by Microsoft mean that they will steal ISP market share? I don't think so because the factors behind each sector are different, although Micrsoft is responding to each for the same reason- the operating system threat. Microsoft saw Netscape as a threat to it's operating system, so Microsoft mitigated Navigator as a threat by introducing their own browser as a transition to their integrated browser in Windows. Users got mostly the exact same experience if they used Navigator or Explorer. However, this did not stop AOL at all, because AOL is a proprietary interface, and users will get a totally different experience if they user Explorer compared to the AOL interface. And that is the difference. AOL makes it very easy for users to get online, and no ISP has yet come close to duplicating that. Remeber when the internet took off in 1997? And people were saying AOL is dead because, well, there is so much more out there and their are other service providers and AOL was considered toast. The opposite happened.... more people wanted to get on and participate on AOL because, possibly in part, it was so much easier than the internet. People that use AOL are not accessing it as an ISP as in Free ISP service... they are paying for it because they like the ease of use and the features that are found no where else on the internet. Microsoft has not duplicated that mature, proprietary, impenetratable wall. They are trying... unauthorized access to AOL's messaging servers comes to mind. But, Microsoft will have to come up with something else besides free access to attract any AOL users or new users. And the really interesting thing is AOL has not even begun to pull out their ammunitiion... Microsoft fired first, and with the DOJ looking ove everyones shoulder that could have been seen as Microsoft blinking first. Just what AOL was waiting for... Just my opinion. Jon :)

To: JP Sullivan who wrote (27884)	8/5/1999 10:01:00 PM
From: jhg_in_kc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Anyone has arguments in favour of AOL? I'd like to hear them OK HERE GOES. MSFT is an operating systems company or that it is what it tells the Dept. of Justice. Is it now saying that the provision of internet service is essential to its key business, Window's software. This is nonesense. It got into the mess it is in by using its monopoly on the desktop to give away a free icon to a search engine/internet portal and put Netscape out of business. Do you think it will be allowed now tonot just expand Windows to connect to the net but actually offer free internet service to the home. This is brazenly going into a whole new business. It transforms MSFT from selling something like still photography to a new business of providing motion pictures and without any costs. Only a monopoly with a monopoly's monies can do this and hopefully it is illegal. (I have not yet read the WSJ article) AOL has a very loyal customer base, particlarly in its ICQ and other chat rooms. AOL is a dynamic company and will ally itself with whomever it must. The SUn alliance once clailmed last Novemebver that its goal was to circumvent the need for MSFT thru Java software from Sun so that the Internet not the desktop provides the computer dial tone. Why load MSFt Windows onto your computer via a CD and pay hundreds of dollars when you can get access to the Internet and other software simply by turning your computer on and linking to the megasevers of AOL?SUNw where all the operating systems you need reside. It is not over until it is over. As I type this I am aware that Bill Gates has "backed off" the free ISP strategy. A third point" MSFT will be regraded as Avis (or worse) to AOL's Hertz. There is also YHOO and ATHM who do not wish to be renedered obsolete or swallowed up. Let the battles continue. These are some arguments for AOL. I am sure there are others. jhg