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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frederick Smart who wrote (28127)	9/15/1999 9:18:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 42771

Novell Gives a Small Office Everything Despite installation troubles, SBS 5 is a class act, empowering both users and system managers. by Mike Avery, InfoWorld September 13, 1999, 5:25 p.m. PT Novell's Small Business Suite 5 delivers on its promises to small business by making directory services accessible. This program is designed to work for a single site with as many as 50 users, not to be used as a part of an enterprise network. The suite's NetWare 5 has been stripped down to use a single-partition directory service. At $1,750, Novell's SBS 5 costs $748 less than Microsoft's comparable Small Business Server for a 25-user package. Also, the newly added Zero Effort Networking starter pack helps minimize support costs. Bundled with SBS is a remarkable array of software, including GroupWise 5.5 for e-mail and groupware, the Novell Internet Connection Expert, the Novell Easy Administration Tool, Netscape Enterprise Web Server for NetWare, Novell BorderManager FastCache Services, and Ragula FatPipes, which allows a server to double the speed of its Internet connection. SBS 5 also contains several tools, including Oracle 8.04, Network Associates' McAfee NetShield for NetWare, VirusScan, NetObjects Fusion 3.01, Tobit FaxWare 5.11, and NetWare Connect. Installation Stalls With SBS 5, installing the operating system is just the beginning. Figuring out what to install and in what order to install it is not easy. Novell should build in more automation and consistency to help inexperienced users, because installation mistakes can have expensive long-term consequences. I installed Novell's Client32 software on a Windows 95 PC. In another five minutes, I was connected to the server in an Internet Protocol-only network. Once I was connected to the server, the installation process launched the administration tool, which helped create users and groups, set up printers, and install GroupWise. Every application but GroupWise loaded and ran easily. The installation routine for GroupWise hiccuped when I accidentally bumped a key at the wrong time. The installation didn't complete correctly, and rerunning the installation didn't help. Nor was the Novell sales engineer I talked to able to help. Several hours later, I deleted everything on the server that looked like part of GroupWise and then restarted the installation. This time, I kept my fingers off the keyboard, and the installation was successful. I was soon sending e-mail locally and via the Internet and scheduling appointments with coworkers. I was very surprised by how clean and easy to use the package is. The Art of ZEN The true strength of SBS lies in the integration among the applications, rather than the breadth of the package. An often-overlooked part of NetWare 4 and 5 is the ZEN starter kit. Its pieces work together and increase the suite's advantages. I haven't seen another package that works as well as the ZEN Novell Application Launcher. This menu system lets users easily find and run the software they are authorized to use. The Application Launcher can also install software. The first time you click on an application, it installs and runs automatically. Only one major piece is missing from SBS: an office suite. From start to finish, SBS 5 is a class act. It gives power to users and system managers. Once the installation is over, it doesn't get in the way, it just works. What more can you ask for? pcworld.com

To: Frederick Smart who wrote (28127)	9/15/1999 11:24:00 AM
From: Frederick Smart	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 42771

MSFT's Fraud Mechanics... Many of you know that I've been an active commentator on Microsoft, it's ethics and monoplistic practices for the past 2 years. Earlier this year I composed a 25-30 page White Paper about "The Microsoft Monopoly" - actually an email text message - which was sent to hundreds of congressmen, senators and media outlets all across the country. I was asked by assorted individuals who follow my writings on the Internet to write this piece. The response received from those who sent this information to these lists confirmed that I did make an impact. I felt all along that Microsoft is a technology pyramid which intimidates while sucking the energy of innovation out of the technology development world. Their practices in this area have common threads which are oftentimes as predictable as they are destructive. Bill Parrish's piece about Microsoft's financial fraud (http://billparish.com/19990707arthurlevitt.html) confirmed a long held belief of mine that Gates has been manipulating the financial markets to play along with this unique financial pyramid scheme which ties their deliberate use of put option selling strategies to raise hundreds of millions of dollars each quarter. Microsoft's massive put selling strategy has gotten so large it now takes more and more energy to pull off the feat each quarter. Wall Street knows this game intimately and because of this awareness there has been an implied "floor" of support under Microsoft's stock price. The mechanics go like this: 1) Microsoft sells put options 2) Wall Street buys those options 3) The options are priced with a preferred implied rate of return greater than T-Bills. 4) After buying the put options, Wall Street turns around and sells calls and buy the underlying stock which support the stock price. Because this strategy has grown so large it is forcing Microsoft into unique option partnerships will fewer and fewer major Wall Street firms. I believe Goldman is the prime beneficiary of this strategy - allowing them to earn a 100-200 basis points above the Fed Funds rates on a growing hoard of cash. In effect, Microsoft, much like it's dealings in the technology world, is forcing the marketplace into playing along in a game which makes these practices more fixed and therefore open to more abuse and fraud. Wall Street is too scared to stop the game for alot is invested in keeping the truth from getting out. Parrish's goal of deflating 75% of Microsoft's market value would have more immediate ramifications to the professional traders who price these options and continually roll over their long positions in the underlying stock. Much of this stock is booked in highly leveraged positions which are geared to capturing this excess rate of return in the derivative option strategies. Exposing this game could force professional market participants to unwind their long positions prematurely as their is an undisclosed risk that a potential SEC investigation of Microsoft will force them to pull back from the table, thus removing the fuel which drives this "game". In effect, they may not be able to meet their put selling obligations. So there you have it. Comments anyone? Peace. GO!! ...and buy more Novell!!