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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mozek who wrote (9976)	8/6/1998 3:22:00 AM
From: Bearded One	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Mozek, please reread what I wrote. I wasn't bashing Microsoft at all. I didn't write that Windows 95 was less secure than Unix or OS/2 or VMS. I simply wrote that this program presents a security problem because it makes it easier for non-specialists to take over systems. That there are more considerations to security than technical ones. That's it. Linux also has big security problems. If Linux becomes real popular someone will write a Back Orifice for Linux. My "bashing" of Microsoft is fourfold: 1) I predict that NT 5 is going to be way late. 2) I think that they do step on other companies and that it is wrong and I think they need to be taken down a peg. 3) I think they released Windows 98 way too early. (what would happen if 9 out of 10 TV's sold were "ok"?) 4) I think the stock is overvalued (but I think that for most stocks in this market) And that's it. I like Word, I like Excel, I like Windows 95, I like Windows NT 4, I like dial-up-networking, I like IE 4.0. But what I don't like happens to be stuff that's forward looking and is relevant to discussions here, which is why I come off like a MS Basher.

To: mozek who wrote (9976)	8/6/1998 9:05:00 AM
From: Mike Milde	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

<< If I convinced someone to download a set of Java classes, put them on their classpath and run them, I could do the same thing. Zero security. Of course, it might be easier to convince someone to do that because people have a false sense of security about Java. >> Well, maybe... JDK 1.1 can run Java apps securely, but JDK 1.2 makes it very easy for the user. 1.2 users will quickly learn that a single command line switch to their JRE will run any application in a protected "sandbox". To be fair, you may get away with this today out of user ignorance, but Sun has made the tools readily available that allow users to run their applications securely. Computer viruses and pranks and such cost corporations $billions every year. You can't ignore the value of something that lets you run questionable software safely. Mike

To: mozek who wrote (9976)	8/6/1998 3:51:00 PM
From: Ibexx	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Mike, NSCP news article: _____ Thursday August 6 3:23 PM ET Netscape freefall continues By Ben Elgin, ZDNet While the browser is a zero revenue game for resellers, it is the linchpin to Netscape's success--both in propelling users to its portal site and in seeding deployment of its enterprise software. Nonetheless, despite drastic efforts to shore up its floundering browser market share, Communicator usage continues to nose dive. Perhaps most ominous for Netscape Communications Corp., a July study from Zona Research Inc. indicates a steep slide in the corporate marketplace. Wrought from 260 corporations, Zona's data found that Netscape's browser share has dipped to 54 percent, while Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer now garners 45 percent of the market. That's a drastic change from previous surveys. Moreover, 55 percent of IT respondents said IE was their company's standard browser. This suggests that some 10 percent of Communicator users are corporate grunts who refuse to embrace Internet Explorer. "Clearly, corporate browser policies have continued to influence browser placement within the enterprise," says Clay Ryder, Zona's chief analyst, who estimates that two-thirds of corporate users have little or no choice in which browser they use. Such news may be discouraging for Netscape, which completely overhauled its browser distribution strategy and opened up its source code to avoid these very results. While enterprise software sales could feasibly withstand a demise of the browser, it is doubtful that the Netcenter Web portal would fare as well. After all, over half of Netcenter's visitors come from Communicator's default start page. Netscape executives insist that market-share numbers are secondary to user-base growth. After all, 85 percent of 10 million Web users is a lot less than 55 percent of 40 million Web users, says Netscape Executive Vice President Marc Andreessen. "We've lost market share, but we've grown our user base simultaneously. We just have to make sure these new users become Netcenter members," he says. Ibexx