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

To: ed who wrote (10248)	8/24/1998 7:45:00 AM
From: Mike Milde	Respond to of 74651

<< There is no reason for me to learn two different OSs, if one OS is available which can cover both low end PCs, and high end workstations. That is the reason I would say that if NT is as good a product as UNIX, UNIX will eventually lose the war. >> Ed, you are starting to say things that are not true. What is your experience in the computer world? 1) NT does NOT run on "high end workstations". Your concept that NT runs on everything you need to run it on is simply not factual. The modern version of the IBM PC that is sitting on your desktop is NOT what makes the world go round, it's just what you see everyday since you do not work in this business. 2) NT is not as stable as most UNIX systems. NT requires constant tweaking and rebooting. Many applications are critical and cannot be run on NT. Internet based applications and e-commerce applications are rapidly becoming mission critical. Microsoft is well aware that networked apps of the future will require much more robustness and stability than NT 4.0 provides. This is why Microsoft is trying to get it right with NT 5.0. 3) UNIX was around for decades before NT was. The Internet was built on UNIX machines while Bill Gates was publicly insisting that Microsoft would have nothing to do with the Internet. Millions of developers rely on UNIX for high-end applications (things that just wont run on a $3,000 PC.) 4) Your concept that speed and efficiency is unimportant because PC's are getting faster doesn't make sense either. We've watch PC's get faster since the early 80's, but all we want is faster PC's. Let me clue you in Mr. Ed: The need for speed will never end because applications are getting more complex. OS efficiency, reliability and scalability are critical if you are installing a $20 million e-commerce site (and please don't tell me that's an insignificant piece of the pie just because you can't see it from your desktop.) Mike

To: ed who wrote (10248)	8/24/1998 8:50:00 AM
From: Charles Tutt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Actually, "most people" shouldn't need to learn ANY OS. Computing to "most people" should be as via an appliance. Consider that VCR makers have finally given up on trying to get people to set their VCR clocks and have started setting them automatically from broadcast time signals and you'll see the level of sophistication you can assume from "most people." That's what Microsoft fears most -- the era of the irrelevant OS. That's what Java is all about. JMHO.