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

To: MZIP who wrote (23289)	7/30/1998 3:53:00 PM
From: Phil Bowden	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

MZIP, your point is well taken. However, you imply that the only REAL place to make money is at the personal desktop. Consider SUN, Peoplesoft, SAP, or Citrix. None of them are taking over the desktop, yet all of them have made their shareholders a bit wealthier. NOVL does not need to take over the desktop to make me some REAL money. They only need to find a niche, and I believe Microsoft has provided them more than an ample vacuum to fill by their repeated delays with 5.0...

To: MZIP who wrote (23289)	7/30/1998 3:56:00 PM
From: Spartex	Respond to of 42771

MZIP: Go to the novell company web site and review the content. If you find holes or weaknesses in their approach, or Eric Schmidt's company vision, please let us know what they are, or better yet email them to the management. I'm sure they would be receptive to sincere feedback. We do appreciate good technical analysis by those in the NOS field. From what I've researched on Novell, they aren't trying to win over the desktop anymore (I thought that battle was lost to MSFT -- re: Novell purchase of WordPerfect). Eric Schmidt has always said that the networks and the internet were his focus. So far, his actions exactly mimic his words. BTW, what really angers me about you is your attitude more than anything else. It was, and continues to be, persistently negative towards Novell. I would say, be objective and "disconnect" yourself in your analysis of Novell as well. Who knows, you might create some valuable dialogue. novell.com novell.com Regards, QuadK

To: MZIP who wrote (23289)	7/30/1998 4:09:00 PM
From: Procreant	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

MSFT can have the desktop. I do not believe NOVL is interested in competing for the desktop. NT workstation is a fine desktop OS (notice the omission of Windows 95/98). Something interesting I heard from an employee on Novell's plan which might lend credence to a Microsoft/Novell deal on NDS is that Novell does not want to position Netware vs. NT. It's Netware AND NT. They support heterogeneity and want to provide network services for cross-platform, mission critical applications that can be distributed across the enterprise and the Web. This may be a good strategy in that Netware has traditionally not been a good application server. Of course, Netware 5 takes steps to correct that, Netware is strong on file and print and nobody touches it. Novell's commitment to heterogeneity is also demonstrated through Netware 5's pure IP and their long time ability to connect and integrate all environments: NT, UNIX, mainframes, and MAC. The network, in case it has escaped you, is Novell's focus. The plan is the network. They have focused on providing networking solutions and services for Small Business, Large Business, and Internet Service Providers. I'll try to spell it out for you: Networking services provided by Novell include Border Manager, ManageWise, Z.E.N. works, GroupWise, and the glue that enables and seemlessly itegrates it all, NDS. These tools allow IS professional to treat their network as a single entity and manage it ALL from anywhere. Try doing that with an NT network. Well, that's enough for now. Glad you found the active SI thread. I think it's fair to have a "wait and see" attitude, just don't wait too long or you'll miss the boat. Procreant

To: MZIP who wrote (23289)	7/30/1998 4:39:00 PM
From: E_K_S	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

MZIP- I too think SOLARIS will become the "enterprise OS of choice" and have invested in SUNW to take advantage of this forward looking trend. I have a small position in Novell as I think their longer term plan to implement their JVM (Java Virtural Machine) into Netware could be a big hit in the enterprise. What really gets me excited is the recent addition to their BOD of a Mr. Bill Joy the "GURU" of JAVA and JINI. Read the latest article on Bill Joy in WIRED magazine. Very interesting and forward looking. Novell could be the network of choice that monitors and administers many of these JINI embedded devises. Imagine your water and electric meter monitored over the network....vending machines...gas station tanks etc.. CEO Schmidt has built the JVM engine and software management systems to allow their enterprise customers to control such tasks. The next major events for CEO Schmidt (IMO) is to (1) optimize the JVM engine, (2) tightly integrate Netware with Windows NT (where NT is configured as a small departmental network where scale and network size is not an issue) but Netware controls the larger enterprise functions and (3) finally create the necessary hooks so Netware will run seamless in the Solaris or Unix environment. I guess in summary, Novell software could be the answer for many IP shops to link together mission critical SOLARIS and UNIX machines with the Windows world (small networks and clients). Many of these other companies are working on a JAVA and JINI complete solution but I think Novell may have a better overall approach and of course they do have a large installed customer base. We will just have to wait and see how it all comes together. EKS

To: MZIP who wrote (23289)	7/30/1998 4:43:00 PM
From: Spartex	Respond to of 42771

MZIP: << What is their plan? I would love to hear some real concrete evidence of a NOVL turnaround...>> All I can say is once The Street sees "concrete evidence of a NOVL turnaround", the price of the stock could well be north of 15 dollars, which for me would be 100% appreciation since Dec97. Hence, one does their homework, buys cheap, and sits and waits for the "concrete evidence" to start trickling out. Thats how I invest, I get in near the bottom, but within 6-9 months of better news. Time (patience) is my weapon. I feel we are weeks to a few months away from getting much stronger street recognition. JMHO, QuadK

To: MZIP who wrote (23289)	7/31/1998 1:48:00 AM
From: Scott C. Lemon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42771

Hello MZIP, Welcome aboard. Looks like you joined SI to post on the Novell thread ... and it's always good to have new input. I have some questions about your comments ... You state: > The real question is what is NOVL going to do to take over the > desktop? How would you react to me if I tried to convince you that > SOLARIS is going to take over the world? The personal desktop is > where the REAL money is to be made As someone always doing research and analysis of the computer industry, I'm curious what you see happening in the future that leads you to this conclusion? To state the "personal desktop" is where the future lies, and where "REAL" money is made goes contrary to much of what I see happening in the industry. To me it appears that Microsoft is even moving further from the desktop as they continue to invest heavily in their on-line services and "portal" at Start.com. It seems to me that the real money is now moving into the fabric of the 'net, and the services being developed to provide network delivery of applications and information. Desktops seem to continue to be a low margin commodity area, and as computer shipments continue to slip a little, I think we'll see more intelligence being built into cell phones and PDAs ... easier to carry and becoming more powerful. I'd just be curious about which aspects of the desktop are expanding markets that should be invested in? Also, you compare several different OS's ... but then include NetWare in the mix. NetWare has never been a desktop OS so far ... but it has millions of Windows clients. How would you envision NetWare "taking over" the desktop? ZENWorks is starting to move in that direction ... but it's not to take over ... it's to make Windows better! ;-) I'd like your viewpoint. Thanx! Scott C. Lemon