Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Ibexx who wrote (5087)	2/10/1998 6:56:00 PM
From: Alan Buckley	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

In Survey of Plans for 1998, Firms See Shift to Microsoft interactive.wsj.com MSFT related excerpts... PALO ALTO, Calif. -- A survey of executives at top U.S. corporations sees technology spending rising again in 1998, and budget priorities not unlike 1997's. The survey also reflected a shift toward Microsoft Corp. products. Among the central areas of spending will be enterprisewide software applications, Windows NT, servers, Internet software and data networking gear -- though spending in this last category, while up from 1997, won't equal the strong growth pace of years past. Buyers also see an increase in relational database spending; 67% say they expect increased spending in the next two to three years. However, 36% say they will substitute Microsoft's SQL Server for Oracle Corp. purchases in the next two years. Also of interest: Sun Microsystems Inc. may have invented Java, but 45% of Internet technology leaders indicated they would buy development tools for the software language from Microsoft. Sun won 26% of the buyers. It also discovered that the shift in spending from desktop computers to servers is a gradual trend that will favor Microsoft's Windows NT, but not entirely at the expense of Unix machines. Unix spending within technology budgets should remain a fairly constant percentage over the next couple of years, the survey said.

To: Ibexx who wrote (5087)	2/11/1998 9:46:00 PM
From: Flair	Respond to of 74651

Ibexx & all, - "Microsoft set to deliver free Outlook'98 clients" infoworld.com ...................... However, Outlook '98 will not incorporate browsing functions, even though it can operate in HTML mode, Gode said. "We've been saying all along that Outlook '98 is a great all-around e-mail client and we will encourage people to use it as a front-end client to any Internet e-mail server, including Exchange," Gode said. "Outlook '98 is totally HTML-compliant, and e-mail messages -- if the user chooses -- can be in HTML," Gode added. "We will not default to HTML, because -- as nice as it is -- in talking to corporate users we find that the infrastructure and storage infrastructure are not set up for people sending and storing weighty e-mail messages. We will default to plain or rich text format, but users have the opportunity to send HTML messages." The clear separation of the browsing function, despite the HTML functionality, creates a distinct divide between the Outlook approach and that of messaging and groupware rival Lotus Development. Lotus plans in the second half of this year to deeply integrate browsing functions into its next client, code-name Maui, so that the HTML-based e-mail and Notes client acts as an all-in-one user destination. Ironically, Lotus will use Microsoft's Internet Explorer ActiveX control to do so. Microsoft, unlike Lotus, appears to be resisting an all-in-one client approach, and will keep the browsing function separate or aligned with the operating system. Users will alternate between the Outlook client (for messaging, calendar, and productivity applications), and the browser and/or operating system for local and wide area file management or intranet and Web access. "Outlook '98 cannot yet use the IE control, and we have no plans going forward to make that possible," Gode said. ...............................

To: Ibexx who wrote (5087)	2/11/1998 9:51:00 PM
From: Flair	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Ibexx & all, - "Microsoft files brief to stop Sun injunction". infoworld.com By Elinor Mills InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:01 PM PT, Feb 10, 1998 Microsoft has filed a brief urging a U.S. federal court to reject a request by Sun Microsystems to block Microsoft's use of the "Java compatible" logo until a legal dispute between the software companies is resolved. "We have always used the Java language and Java Compatibility Logo in compliance with the terms of the contract freely signed by Microsoft and Sun," said Tom Burt, Microsoft's associate general counsel, in a statement on Microsoft's Web site. Microsoft believes Sun is trying to use the court to rewrite the contract, Burt said. Sun officials did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment on the Microsoft filing last Friday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California. Sun sued Microsoft in October of last year, claiming that Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and development kit are not fully Java-compatible, thus violating the Java licensing agreement Microsoft signed with Sun in March 1996. Later in October, Microsoft countersued Sun, alleging that Sun violated the terms of the Java licensing agreement by failing to deliver technology that passed Sun's own Java test suites and also failing to provide a public set of test suites for Java. The Microsoft brief, which contains confidential information from both companies, was filed under seal because of a protective order imposed by the court, Microsoft said. A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 27 for oral arguments before U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte on Sun's preliminary injunction request.

To: Ibexx who wrote (5087)	2/11/1998 9:56:00 PM
From: Flair	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Ibexx & all, "Office 9". infoworld.com By Bob Trott and Ed Scannell InfoWorld Electric Posted at 7:01 PM PT, Feb 10, 1998 Microsoft hopes to release by year's end the next version of its Office desktop applications suite, now called Office 9, which will be designed to enhance server-side capabilities and boast closer ties to Windows NT. Office 9 will let IT managers use the Active Directory promised in NT 5.0 -- which has no certain release date -- to automate upgrades. Distribution of components -- and individual features of the components, which also will be accessible on demand from the server -- is the key to the new version, a Microsoft official said. "In the new version, you can download components on demand," said group product manager Kirstin Larson. "The goal is to make Office attack the bloatware issue." "The block feature in Access doesn't have to be given to a client," Larson said. "However, in the old days if you wanted to give it to them, you would have to go into setup to reinstall that feature. Now, the user can click on the block feature and if he didn't have it, it would be downloaded to him. Currently, you can block a feature from a desktop, but you need to reinstall it; [in the new version] you don't." The company plans to release a limited beta of Office 9 in the second quarter, a source close to the company said. Microsoft's goal is to deliver the upgrade by year's end, said Andrew Dixon, Office product manager. Office 9 also will include support for the Extensible Markup Language. Microsoft is looking beyond Office 9 -- officials recently demonstrated Office technology that focused on Web collaboration. "Microsoft will offer capabilities to let users create virtual work groups and discussions on Web sites," said one source familiar with Microsoft's long-term goals. "That is not going to happen in Office 9. That is much further out."