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

To: RTev who wrote (29089)	9/3/1999 9:32:00 AM
From: Jill	Respond to of 74651

Thanx for trying it and telling us how it was, RTev. Jill (eom)

To: RTev who wrote (29089)	9/4/1999 1:34:00 AM
From: taxman	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 74651

"I'll delete ...[Star Office] soon" that won't make it go away. Sun-AOL turn up the heat on Redmond The anti-Microsoft camp took another creative step earlier this week towards positioning itself to be even better prepared to wage direct Internet warfare with the world's largest software company. On Tuesday, Sun Microsystems (SUNW) announced the purchase of Star Division, the maker of StarOffice, an office applications suite that runs on Linux, Java-enabled devices, as well as Windows. Okay, that's nice, but here's the real kicker: Sun plans to roll out a new version of StarOffice, called StarPortal, by the end of this year that will be free to use and accessible over the Net. Users will access the StarPortal applications they need online through a central server. Sun expects StarPortal to eventually be made widely available over a variety of portable devices, such as cell phones and Palm Pilots. We'll have to wait and see if Sun can really execute on these lofty plans. Regardless, it's a nifty little scare tactic aimed at the head honchos at the Softie compound in Redmond. I can imagine Sun's Scott McNealy, Oracle's (ORCL) Larry Ellison, and AOL's Steve Case all laughing like giddy little schoolchildren on a three-way conference call after the StarOffice announcement. Keep in mind that Microsoft Office sales currently account for some 40% of Gates & Company's annual revenue. Clearly, StarPortal does not pose a serious threat in the short term for Gates, as Microsoft's Windows and Office programs will continue to dominate PC computing. The press is rushing way too quickly to the conclusion that average Americans are all of a sudden are going to dump Microsoft Office. Not a chance. However, this move has forced Microsoft president Steve Ballmer to acknowledge that Microsoft will offer "Web-based office productivity services" in the future. What's not being widely said is that it's not too hard to imagine Sun buddy America Online making a co-branded version of StarPortal available to AOL subscribers and Netscape Netcenter members in the future. So far, portals have scrambled to add "sticky apps" like free e-mail, free chat, and free home pages to their sites. Can you imagine how quickly they'll rush to beat down McNealy's door if they can offer free co-branded versions of StarPortal to their users a year from now? Of course, this looming threat from Sun just makes it more likely that Microsoft will indeed slash prices for its MSN Internet service, and threaten to launch a "free" ISP again. If AOL and friends really want to play hardball, Gates has the cash arsenal on hand to really bleed losses on the connectivity and Internet side of his business for a long time to wreck the profits of AOL and others, if provoked. It's quite a scary scenario for smaller ISPs, office software developers, and mid-tier portals, I'd say. I must admit that it's quite fun to watch this digital chess match unfold, but only as long as I can watch it from within my own well-fortified cyberbunker. This is the wrong world war to be caught in the middle. Bring your K-rations and bottled water and come join me if you'd like. I'm afraid there's going to be a lot of Internet companies left mortally wounded in this zero-sum game between Redmond and the Sun-AOL crowd. Oh, I forgot: body bags for Internet companies caught in the crossfire not included. Copyright 1999, RagingBull.Com regards