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To: Thomas Dremel who wrote (28947)	7/13/1998 7:35:00 PM
From: John Koligman	Respond to of 97611

Interesting article from Infoworld on vendor alliances outside Wintel... PC vendors form watchdog group to loosen Wintel's grip By Ephraim Schwartz InfoWorld Electric Posted at 5:36 AM PT, Jul 12, 1998 Major hardware vendors, led by Compaq and 3Com, are in the early stages of forming an alliance designed to rein in the scattershot research and development practices of both Microsoft and Intel. Tired of having new operating systems and technology foisted on them and their corporate customers, major vendors are privately forming an organization called the Mobile Advisory Council. The Council will attempt to increase pressure on Microsoft and Intel to consult with systems vendors and component manufacturers before initiatives are launched. Founding members of this yet-to-be-announced Council include 3Com and Compaq, said a source at 3Com. However, Intel and Microsoft have not been asked to join. "We are trying make sure all mobile users' needs get met in the specifications from Microsoft and Intel," one Council member said. The recent problems with Windows 98 on notebooks has IT managers also threatening to push back. "At a corporate level, if a company is perceived as continuously burning us with the introduction of new technology, management starts to re-evaluate the relationship," said an IT manager at a New York agency. One analyst also sees IT discontent as the root cause of the new Council. "They are pushing back because their customers are pushing," said Mike McGuire, a mobile analyst at Dataquest, in San Jose, Calif. "If this is a good-faith effort to more closely link their customers with development efforts, it's a good thing." Without those efforts users bear the brunt of new technology. 3Com is reportedly upset that its Windows modem for desktops will be hard to install for users adopting Win98. Without an industrywide effort, companies continue to cut their own unique deals. One system vendor, for example, is currently working with Microsoft to make Windows 98 "more bomb-proof" by removing certain hooks in the OS and adding others just for its own products, said one source. "It will be a streamlined OS optimized for a particular market segment, but it will still be Windows 98. It's on a 'we won't tell if you don't tell' basis," the source said. According to one IT manager at a Fortune 50 oil company, there may be strength in unity. "We used to be a top-10 Microsoft customer and they listened to us. When you are not in the top 10 you don't have any influence anymore," the IT manager said. Although 3Com, Compaq, and Dell would not openly discuss the Mobile Advisory Council, an Intel spokesman endorsed the Council. "Intel is supportive of what the group is working on," said Jason Ziller, platform marketing manager in the Mobile group at Intel, in Santa Clara, Calif.