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: freeus who wrote (7816)	5/22/1998 1:21:00 AM
From: denni	Respond to of 74651

Microsoft Asks Federal Judge to Delay Preliminary Injunction interactive.wsj.com An INTERACTIVE JOURNAL News Roundup On the eve of its initial court appearance in a historic antitrust case, Microsoft Corp. asked a federal judge Thursday to delay for at least seven months the government's demand that it make changes to Windows 98.

To: freeus who wrote (7816)	5/22/1998 1:51:00 AM
From: Dwight E. Karlsen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

I agree. I think Win98 is going to be a sleeper hit. Expectations are very low. I was just reading an IBD article in Wednesday's paper, and the whole article was very low-ball. From every angle, analysts nix Win98. Example: "I'm betting the impact will be minimal at most -- almost nothing," said Roger Kay, an analyst at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. "There just isn't enough exciting stuff there to drive new users to it. I can't imagine finding anyone in the United States who would wake up and say, 'I've got to have Windows 98.'" Mr. Kay, I've held off on upgrading to a new desktop because I wanted to get Win98 preloaded at the factory. I held off on buying a first laptop mostly due to falling prices (they keep getting cheaper and/or more and faster for the same money), but the sweet spot is here. I can get new 233MMX laptop with a 2GB HD and Active Matrix screen, 32MB of RAM, all very capable of running state of the art Win98, all for <$2,000. So I ordered it prior to Win98 going to the OEM, but made sure the mfr gave a coupon for a free upgrade. Additionally Mr. Kay, what if the govt demands that MSFT strip out the browing capability in Win98? I might have a collectors item. (-g-). Mr. Kay, I've got to have Windows 98. - D.K.

To: freeus who wrote (7816)	5/22/1998 11:41:00 AM
From: Carlos Blanco	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 74651

>The more publicity....the more the Amer public wants. And for all I know the people abroad have the same perverse attitude! This is true, Win98 is getting a huge amount of free publicity thanks to the lawsuits. And there will also be another unintended side effect that Microsoft's competitors should probably have thought about. I am quoting below from an essay you can find at frontsys.com on the politicization of the software industry. Over the long run Microsoft, as the company with the deepest pockets, will end up being the company that benefits the most from such a process. --Carlos Who among us will have the most influence? And who can afford the most influence? Which company is responding to the pressure brought upon it by drastically stepping up its lobbying efforts and political contributions? Microsoft, of course. Bill Gates is no dummy, and he's said it quite explicitly: He used to think that all he had to do was design and build great products. Now he realizes that that attitude was "naive." The folks who hate Microsoft, the 800-pound gorilla in a relatively free market, should be worrying about the future Microsoft, the gorilla with so much political influence -- so many senators and congressmen in its back pocket -- that it's practically untouchable. No, this won't happen next month or next quarter -- but what about four years from now, given our politics today? We've worried about the market power of a few companies like Microsoft, but we haven't anticipated how the true coercive power of government might be used for or against us. After all, you don't have to buy Windows 98, and many people won't. But you do have to pay your taxes, or go to jail -- to finance things like the federal Market Promotion Program, which pays for McDonald's hamburger ads overseas today, and -- who knows? -- might pay for Microsoft's browser ads overseas tomorrow.