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Technology Stocks : Wind River going up, up, up! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Richard Karpel who wrote (3375)	7/7/1998 7:06:00 AM
From: David M. Sawyer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10309

More from Dow Jones on the latest acqusition: Wind River Tries To Bolster Its OS Software With Acqusition Dow Jones Online News, Monday, July 06, 1998 at 20:16 NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Wind River Systems Inc., a well-regarded developer of operating-system software for cellular phones, camcorders, fax machines and other electronic devices as well as some networking equipment, plans to buy privately held Zinc Software Inc. as part of an effort to withstand Microsoft Corp. Wind River (WIND_ said Zinc Software, of Pleasant Grove, Utah, is developing a graphical user interface for so-called embedded devices. Microsoft has said it wants to penetrate the embedded chip market with its lightweight Windows CE, a software operating system that has the look and feel of its flagship Windows programs. Microsoft is working to shrink the product to meet the demands of the embedded market, which requires that software systems take up a minimum of memory. Wind River didn't release financial details of its stock transaction with Zinc, which the company plans to formally announce Tuesday. Wind River hopes to use Zinc Software to offer customers a customizable interface for use with printers, copiers, telephones and other devices. Microsoft in April said it will put "real-time" capabilities into Windows CE. What that means is Microsoft intends to enable the software by early 1999 to react fast enough - and reliably enough - to be used in high-percision devices such as test and measurement equipment. It also would make Windows CE a better choice for Internet-ready TVs, set-top boxes and handheld devices - high-volume products that Microsoft is more interested in. Investors woory that Wind River will soon face competition from Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft. But it is a claim Wind River has disputed. Wind River believes it has a technical advantage it can maintain over Microsoft. Wind River claims its popular VXWorks program is smaller, more versatile and quicker than what Microsoft hopes its software will be next year. Wind River also has acquired the rights to use a graphical user interface - a strength of Windows CE - from Oracle Corp.'s (ORCL) subsidiary - Network Computer Inc. However, Microsoft, which usually sells software through distributors, has signed up a number companies to support its initiative. At stake for both Microsoft and Wind River is a market that could have sales of many millions of units over several years. It also is a market now caught up in a much broader Microsoft Windows versus Sun Microsystems Inc. Java conflict. Both technology are competing for the loyalty of developers. That has left Wind River, which has embraced Java, feeling the Microsoft punch