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

To: DiViT who wrote (57617)	4/25/2001 12:08:37 PM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 74651

Can this man make you trust Bill Gates? By Deborah Gage Sm@rt Partner April 24, 2001 6:45 AM PT Instead of summoning Silicon Valley partners to Redmond, Microsoft is now greeting them in their own backyard. Few people noticed when the company opened the Microsoft Technology Center in Mountain View, Calif., last month, but it was a critical event for the software giant. During the opening ceremony, local politicians and the press were invited to admire the rows of gleaming Compaq and Unisys servers, and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates gave the keynote address in person. "We were not necessarily first to the Internet," Gates said. "But we were the most energetic, and we came up with some good products." The Internet effort also proved something of a PR nightmare for Microsoft, which goes a long way toward explaining why Gates left behind an emissary to polish the company's image. His name is Dan'l Lewin, and he may have one of the toughest jobs in high-tech these days: convincing Valley companies that Microsoft is a square dealer with the kind of integrity they demand from an established giant. Based at the Technology Center, Lewin gives Valley companies a go-to man when they want to catch the attention of Gates or CEO Steve Ballmer. And given his strong reputation and 25-year career at places like Apple Computer, GO and NeXT, he also provides a familiar face that can open doors inside Silicon Valley, making him quite a catch for Microsoft. All of this might seem rather innocuous if it weren't for Microsoft's current quest to make .Net the de facto standard for computing. Microsoft has suddenly found itself desperately in need of developer allies just as it did with Windows, and it's banking on Lewin to polish the company's image. From the Java lawsuit with Sun Microsystems to ongoing feuds with Oracle to the current furor over Hailstorm--Microsoft's latest .Net service--the company's behavior remains under the microscope. Furthermore, Microsoft has lost ground to Java and Linux, which were designed for the Internet, and it is now trying to rewrite its own technology while retaining the loyalty of its core Windows developers. Call for help Enter Dan'l Lewin. Bill Gates may lack credibility in Silicon Valley, but Lewin certainly does not. He is an accomplished salesman, and as a Microsoft VP, he has enough clout to get Gates or Ballmer on the phone. Before Lewin arrived, no Microsoft executive in Silicon Valley ever had that type of influence with Microsoft's brain trust. Continued... zdnet.com

To: DiViT who wrote (57617)	4/25/2001 12:33:30 PM
From: Thunder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

From the article this struck me as a bit odd: Ransom Love, CEO of Linux company Caldera Systems, says if the case were thrown out, his company "would feel the brunt of their illegal business practices." The only two things I can contemplate he was trying to say with that statement was: If the Appellate Court throws out the case that in of itself is illegal. I wonder if he thinks he can sue the judges too. And, or... He's not necessarily disagreeing with that possible outcome but, is presuming AND predicting them guilty before innocents on some future act. Thunder