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To: damniseedemons who wrote (14078)	11/12/1997 9:32:00 PM
From: Daniel Schuh	Respond to of 24154

Sal, what's going on, trying to beat me to all the bad news Microsoft stories? Is this a preemptive strike? Here's my take on this particular article (http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/zdnn/1112/229805.html): Consider, for example, a most remarkable assertion recently given by Microsoft's chief rocket science Nathan Myhrvold to the New York Times. Alluding to Netscape's activist role in pushing Washington to take antitrust action against Microsoft, Myhrvold was quoted as likening that campaign to a "Nixon-era dirty tricks team." That was noted here, too, by guess who. That's the pot calling the kettle black. Only a couple of days earlier, I received an E-mail from one Microsoft executive urging the press to get on the stick and really press its investigation into Sun Microsystems, to get the real story on the company's manipulation of benchmark testing. Nah, Microsoft couldn't have had anything to do with that story. And Sun may have done something stupid, but they owned up to it. You think Microsoft is ever going to own up to pushing the story? From the little evidence brought to light so far, we know a few new things about the way Microsoft conducts its business with computer OEMs: the company is ruthless and hard-nosed. Away from the glare of the television lights, these fellows aren't softies. [what? they're softies in the glare of television lights? News to me] So it goes. But then Microsoft, from the Big Man on down, strikes a wounded pose as if to say, 'Ohmygod, how could anybody say that about us?' when everyone damned well knows the score. What gets me in all this is the sheer hypocrisy of it all. Some Microsoft officials leak bogus stories about Oracle merging with Apple. And there are countless instances where, sotto voce, Microsoft will badmouth Netscape for playing fast and loose with the facts. Like I said commenting today's Fred Moody column, I always thought arrogance was company policy. In fact, I had this suspicion that it was explicitly taught, which is why I always used to ride Reardon about EST training. (That last was somewhat unfair of me, as Thomas was always personally courteous and friendly.) Maybe it's just the company culture. Maybe it comes with the territory. It may go down well with hard nosed business types, but to CS types who know enough not to be in awe of the technology, it seems pretty silly, if not offensive. I find it more amusing than annoying these days, except for the wounded pose part. That's amusing too, but I still get annoyed with it. Cheers, Dan.