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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elmo Gregory who wrote (22609)	6/11/1998 3:43:00 AM
From: Elmo Gregory	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 42771

How accurate is this article? "...Both Lotus and Microsoft executives say this is a two-company battle, noting little competition in the enterprise from Novell Inc., or Netscape Communications Corp..." crn.com

To: Elmo Gregory who wrote (22609)	6/11/1998 7:46:00 AM
From: EPS	Respond to of 42771

(OT) Nader Weighs In on Microsoft, Calling for the Return of OS/2 s part of a year-old crusade against Microsoft's dominance, the longtime consumer advocate Ralph Nader has written to the chairman of International Business Machines, Louis V. Gerstner, to say he thinks I.B.M. should make public the source code for its moribund OS/2 operating system. Nader's reasoning is this: If OS/2 source code were freely available, developers of application programs would jump at the chance to write programs to run on OS/2, building a strong alternative to Microsoft and Windows. Moreover, Nader said in his letter, I.B.M. should offer OS/2 as a free option when selling its own computers. "We were surprised to learn that I.B.M. will not permit consumers to buy I.B.M. Aptiva computers with I.B.M.'s OS/2 operating system installed," Nader wrote. "The only way to get OS/2 is to buy a PC with Microsoft Windows 95 installed and then pay an extra $199 for a shrink-wrapped copy of OS/2, which consumers will have to install themselves." Windows is so well entrenched on desktop computers that even I.B.M. shifted its strategy toward the Microsoft product. For a brief period three years ago, I.B.M. offered a feature called Select-a-System, which allowed customers to choose between OS/2 and Windows when starting up their computers. The majority chose Windows, and I.B.M. discontinued the program shortly thereafter. OS/2 is now used almost exclusively as a server operating system in large corporations. The letter was also signed by Jamie Love, director of the Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, who said he and Nader had received several letters of support from OS/2 users. But they have yet to get a response from I.B.M. Nader said in an interview: "I.B.M. stands for Intimidated by Microsoft. They're doing in their own product, for heaven's sake. It just shows you the power of Microsoft." Tara Sexton, an I.B.M. spokeswoman, said Gerstner was traveling and had not yet seen the letter.