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

To: johnd who wrote (6382)	5/1/1998 2:07:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 74651

WASHINGTON -- Worried about how it will affect the computer industry, executives of 26 of the nation's leading technology companies are urging the Justice Department not to block release of Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows 98 software. The $109 upgrade to the system software that runs virtually all home computers is due to ship to computer makers within weeks and will hit retail shelves June 25. Its future has been clouded recently by antitrust probes by the Justice Department and more than a dozen states into Microsoft's business practices. In an extraordinary letter sent late Thursday, the executives warned that any action blocking shipment of Windows 98 ''would also have a far broader impact.'' It marks the strongest industry showing of support to date for embattled Microsoft. ''Interfering with the release of Windows 98 would drag down the entire industry's efforts to deliver value to customers and returns to shareholders,'' said the letter, signed by executives including the chairmen of Intel Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Symantec Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. Of the largest personal computer manufacturers, only Apple, IBM and Gateway didn't sign the letter. The signatures on the letter read like a Who's Who of the technology industry and illustrated the influence Microsoft carries, even among companies that in the past have criticized some of Microsoft's licensing restrictions as unfair. ''I'm sure a letter signed by a broad range of industry executives gets noticed,'' said Ken Wasch, president of the Software Publishers Association, who has urged antitrust action against Microsoft. ''The bottom line is: No computer manufacturer can afford to harm their relationship with Microsoft,'' Wasch added. ''When Microsoft calls and asks them to write a letter to Justice, they're hard-pressed not to.'' The Justice Department has been investigating whether Microsoft used the dominance of its Windows operating systems to illegally crimp competition. A spokesman for the Redmond, Wash.-based company said late Thursday he had no comment on the letter. By AP.

To: johnd who wrote (6382)	5/1/1998 2:08:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 74651

The department also has complained that Microsoft forces computer makers that sell Windows 95 to also sell Microsoft's Internet browser. The government contends that violates a 1995 agreement it made with Microsoft. A three-judge federal appeals panel in Washington is considering the issue. Microsoft also has bundled its Internet browser within Windows 98, raising the question of whether the Justice Department might try to temporarily block the sale of the new software for some of the same reasons it had complained about Windows 95. Microsoft says it has a right to improve the Windows operating system by integrating new features. In their letter, the executives were careful to note they weren't making ''any opinion on the merits of any investigation of Microsoft.'' But they expressed the ''strongest possible concern'' that the government's antitrust investigation might delay shipment of Windows 98. The executives wrote that their companies spent unspecified millions to develop and promote products that depend on Windows 98's launch, and warned: ''Government intervention into the launch of Windows 98 would endanger what we have all worked for -- and harm consumers and the economy too.'' That language echoed the text of newspaper ads Microsoft began running on April 22 that warned that government restrictions ''will not only affect the thousands of companies that make this industry so successful, but it will also affect millions of consumers and, eventually, the economy in general.''

To: johnd who wrote (6382)	5/1/1998 2:21:00 PM
From: Bearded One	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

Windows NT 5 being delayed because of Windows 98 legal problems is nonsense put out by Microsoft to cover their butts about Windows NT 5. Windows NT 5 will not be sold in any usable form before 2000, and possibly later. If they do come out with something before 2000, it will be the equivalent of a minor upgrade to NT 4 with a name change. Sorry, but don't rely on NT 5 to boost Microsoft revenues for another 3 years at least. And good luck if they don't make the 'Merced' deadline. Why? It's too damn big. It's twice as many lines of code as Windows NT 4.0! 30 million lines of code to NT 4.0's 16! Windows NT 4.0 took 2 service packs to get it working at all stable, and that was just NT 3.5 with a new interface. Nobody has EVER written a software system as large as NT 5.0 is supposed to be. Think about that before you rely on it. Meanwhile, Novell is selling lots of their directory service products.