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

To: Michael Ohlendorf who wrote (31764)	11/5/1999 5:57:00 PM
From: Michael L. Voorhees	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Looks like Judge Jackson got a good gander at this one. MSFT not faring to well here. Prediction; Jackson will knock over the first domino, Caldera the second, and SUNW the 3rd. Meanwhile MSFT shareholders can watch useless legal expenses skyrocket as they waste their money on years of shoddy busines practices that will haunt them for decades. I wish I didn't have this stock in a Trust Fund I have. Tried to tell them to sell it but they would not. Technology News Caldera vs. Microsoft Will Go To Jury Trial (11/04/99, 12:52 p.m. ET) By Stuart Glascock, TechWeb A U.S. district court judge in Salt Lake City has given an unabashed go-ahead for a jury trial in the Caldera vs. Microsoft private antitrust case. Judge Lee Benson has dismissed all eight of Microsoft's motions for summary judgment on antitrust grounds, clearing the path for a trial to begin in Utah on Jan. 17. Benson issued a ruling on four counts late Wednesday. The other four were ruled on earlier this year. Caldera, the owner of DR-DOS, which tried to compete with Microsoft's MS-DOS, is alleging that Microsoft committed a hodgepodge of illegal acts, including illegal tying, making intentional vaporware announcements, blacklisting developers, and exclusionary licensing. "The judge is allowing us to present our entire case before jury," said Lyle Ball, vice president of marketing and communication at Lineo, a subsidiary of Caldera that continues to sell DR-DOS. "We are very pleased we will be able to present our entire case." The four most recent rulings involved Caldera's claims that Windows 95 constitutes an illegal tie of Microsoft MS-DOS and Windows software products, that Microsoft created intentional incompatibilities between Microsoft Windows 3.1 and DR-DOS, that Microsoft created perceived incompatibilities between Windows 3.1 and DR-DOS, and that Microsoft blacklisted DR DOS developers from the Windows 3.1 beta. "In denying Microsoft's motions on those four motions, Judge Benson found there was sufficient evidence supporting these claims to allow them to proceed to trial," Ball said. A Microsoft spokesman said the company was not surprised by the latest ruling. "As expected, the court's ruling echoed what he had already stated from the bench and denying our motions and allowing Caldera the opportunity to prove its allegations," said Jim Cullinan, a Microsoft spokesman. "This is no surprise, and we look forward to making our case beginning early next year." Cullinan reiterated Microsoft's position that Caldera's claims are groundless and based on an attempt "to get money from Microsoft." Furthermore, he said the case is about obsolete technology. "We believe that when you look at each and every allegation, Caldera fails to meet it burden of proof," he said. Both sides will have two more chances to prepare for the January jury trial. At a hearing on Nov. 10, Caldera is asking for two additional witnesses. A final, pre-trial hearing is set for Dec. 7. Meanwhile, Microsoft still awaits word from the federal judge overseeing the U.S. Department of Justice and 19 states vs. Microsoft antitrust case. Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson has said his initial findings of fact will be released late on a Friday afternoon, but he has not said which Friday.

To: Michael Ohlendorf who wrote (31764)	11/5/1999 6:06:00 PM
From: Daniel L. Schuster	Respond to of 74651

Hi folks, I've been holding since 5.5 years ago, which makes my price about $6/share. MSFT is about 40% of my portfolio and it is a long term holding. I believe that the findings will be somewhat against Microsoft, and that it will have to stop certain business practices. Microsoft will appeal, but it will be unimportant. The damage will be minor. The judgement will NOT do anything like break up Microsoft. My reasons are 1) the AOL/Netscape merger weakens the case 2) the emergence of Linux/Unix weakens the case 3) the revival of Apple weakens the case 4) the existence of other minor operating systems (BEOS comes to mind) weakens the case 5) the existence of thousands of software companies weakens the case 6) the emergence and success of the AMD chips, particularly the Athlon, argues against permanent of entrenchment Intel; The judge will think - if it can be done with the chip, it can be done with the operating system and/or application software 7) the microcomputer industry is only about 20 years old. Derailing the Wintel train at this point could (it won't, but it could) do HUGE damage to the function of business and the American economy. The judge will be aware of this. If the decision is significantly against MSFT, the stock will drop a max of 20% but return within a year. More likely, the stock (which has been floating between 80 and 100 for a long time) will go down a bit (5%) then climb as usual. The last time I checked this stock has been climbing at a rate of 72%/year. Frankly, I don't think that will change, over the long term. So I will hold. Dan Schuster