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

To: rudedog who wrote (42741)	4/20/2000 8:36:00 PM
From: Captain Jack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Rude-- went from Win98SE to 2000. The only complaint is I did lose My Favorites. They were saved in order to bring them up and Save into Bookmarks in Netscape. The dood thing is that was one of the files saved to CDs and was able to set all in place. Then in Mondays (4/17) issue of INFO WORLD Brian Livingston detailed an easier method. A little news-- someone else guessing on the 'Remedies'. (COMTEX) B: Microsoft Conduct Remedy Most Likely B: Microsoft Conduct Remedy Most Likely Apr 20, 2000 (Tech Web - CMP via COMTEX) -- The ticklish process of crafting a remedy in the Microsoft antitrust case begins in earnest next week when the government proposes how competition can be returned to the PC operating system market. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled April 3 that the software giant violated antitrust law by abusing its monopoly, tying its browser to the operating system, and engaging in anti-competitive practices. The Justice Department and 19 states weigh in with their proposed remedy by April 28. Microsoft will counter on May 10. The government will rebut on May 17. And Judge Jackson will convene a remedy hearing May 24. Jackson must strike the right balance with a remedy that is strong enough to curb Microsoft's power to let competition flourish in its dominant business, but no more than necessary to avoid an appellate court overturning it. From accounts leaked to the press, the possibility that the government may request a company break-up is remote, said William Kovacic, George Washington University law professor. "But there is still the possibility for some very ambitious conduct-oriented controls," he said. Core ingredients from the failed settlement negotiations would likely reappear in a remedy, but in a stronger form and supplemented by other measures, Kovacic said. "What will be most interesting is how far over the horizon the restrictions will extend," Kovacic said, specifically, to what extent does the proposed remedy reach products and practices that were not the focus of the court's attention, like the server market. ` The remedy order might identify specific generic practices to be controlled, such as bundling and tying, and then specify categories of products or market activity to which these restriction apply, he said. It may also require fuller revelation of the applied program interfaces, or APIs. The remedy could be for an unlimited time, requiring the company to come back at a later time to seek to eliminate the restriction. Or the court could put a sunset provision to expire the restriction into the remedy order, he said. The law allows a judge's remedy to go beyond the immediate subject matter of the trial. "But the more you deviate from products that were the subject in the trial, the greater the level of appellate scrutiny," Kovacic said. If the proposed remedies reach in other product areas, Microsoft (stock: MSFT) will likely challenge the extension into other product areas, asking for more time, witnesses, and testimony. "This will be a difficulty for the judge and plaintiffs. The more ambitious the controls on behavior the more protracted the remedy proceeding will be," he said. Jackson's aim of wrapping up this proceeding on May 24 would be unattainable, he said. Judges have discretion at the remedy stage, but the remedy is supposed to undo the harm of the violation or be directly related to it, said Robert Lande, law professor at the University of Baltimore. "You've got to have a link between the violation and, say, the server market," he said. Microsoft critics this week cited technological tie-ins in Windows 2000 operating system targeted to the server market as evidence that the software giant is still leveraging its monopoly. A company break-up is not going to happen, Lande said. Jackson has said he wants the remedy process completed in 60 days. "The judge is not going to consider structural relief," he said. Judges almost never break up companies, he said. "It's the corporate version of the death penalty," Lande said. But he will hand down a package of conduct relief. It could include that Microsoft make a version of Office that will port to Linux, a step in the right direction toward addressing Microsoft's monopoly of the PC operating system market. Also, the software giant may have to open its APIs and stop discounting Windows to PC makers. A provision could put Microsoft in contempt if they violated any of the conduct order, setting in motion contempt proceeding and drastic fines, Lande said. "However, all conduct remedies will be a nightmare to enforce," he said. Copyright (C) 2000 CMP Media Inc.

To: rudedog who wrote (42741)	4/20/2000 8:41:00 PM
From: Captain Jack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Now in China-- CHINA, April 20, AsiaPort -- Microsoft officially unveiled recently its landmark generation operating system - Windows 2000 Chinese version - in the local market despite the fact that it has already been selling well for almost one month. The firm has already launched the giant multilingual operating system in Beijing on March 20 and in the US market one months ago. "Microsoft will live up to its promise to provide the most powerful and stable operating system to our customers," said Jack Gao, president of Microsoft (China) Co. "The new software is targeted at providing a whole package of solutions to business Internet, compared with its predecessors Win95 and Win98," said Gao. Over 1 million copies of the software have been sold worldwide in a month since its debut in the United States. However, local experts lower the selling forecast, claiming the software is expensive for local customers and that it has a number of possible bugs. The milestone software is priced at 1,700 RMB yuan (US$ 205.31) for Windows 2000 Professional, 8,800 RMB yuan (US$ 1,062) for Windows 2000 Server and 39,000 RMB yuan (US$ 4,710) for Windows 2000 Advanced Server in the local market.

To: rudedog who wrote (42741)	4/20/2000 8:52:00 PM
From: SunSpot	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Hi, Rudedog. You didn't read my post. Easy configuration of Linux requires knowledge. Either you have to have the knowledge yourself or it must be packed into the distribution. First time I installed Corel Linux it took me seven mouseclicks and I had to write my name. Linux also comes embedded. If you buy a Linux car radio, the biggest configuration you have to do is to build it into your car. The post about icons etc. was about deleting the operating system and installing a new from scratch. If you make a format c: on a Windows and install it again from scratch, I would like to see you get all, I mean ALL settings back again on the new installation. You should start a business on this if you know how.