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

To: johnd who wrote (28950)	8/31/1999 9:36:00 PM
From: djia101362	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

johnd, i don't see this hurting msft office at all. can you imagine corporate america having to wonder whether their employees are actually typing memos and reports w/ this type of net office applications, or whether their employees are surfing the net for personal use during business hours. personal use of the internet during business hours is a big enough headache already for today's corporate execs. i think they'd much prefer to keep their word processing and spreadsheet applications localized. the last thing corporate america needs is another variable in the workplace that will lower personal productivity. as for personal use at home, this may have a chance but many will choose to keep compatibility as well as familiarity w/ applications they use at work.

To: johnd who wrote (28950)	8/31/1999 10:37:00 PM
From: Just_Observing	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

IMHO, it will chip away at Office sales. You can download Star Office 5.1 for free from Sun's web site. The download for Windows is 67 MB. You don't need to be connected to the net to use Star Office though Sun is offering a version to ISPs so that they can provide Office applications for their users. Star Office is also available for LINUX, OS/2 and Solaris for Sparc/Intel. For details, check out Sun's web site. It is available in a variety of languages. Besides, Sun is also providing the source code for free. This will allow third parties to provide customized versions. IMHO, this is a full fontal assault on MSFT's cash cow. Perhaps, many corporations have too much invested in MSFT Office training to switch. And with 100 million users, MSFT Office is in no immediate danger. However, the growth rate will slow dramatically and MSFT may be forced to cut prices. Newer businesses, home users, and those in developing countries will not want to pay MSFT's premium prices. I am long MSFT (more than 35% of my portfolio is MSFT), but I plan to lighten up. This is just my take on Sun's move and I have been wrong before.