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

To: mrknowitall who wrote (10445)	9/1/1998 7:46:00 PM
From: Frank Ellis Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Can Anyone get an after hours quote on MSFT The source that I have indicates that it is down almost 6 points??? Can this be right??? Thanks Frank

To: mrknowitall who wrote (10445)	9/1/1998 8:29:00 PM
From: cheryl williamson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

mrknowitall, I don't see it that way. There is no hard-and-fast rule that differentiates product quality & market acceptance. It isn't at all unusual to see popular brands also as high-quality products. In, everything from commodities to consumer durables, I can think of all kinds of products that sell well & seem to work well, too. If Ford only made Pinto's they'd be out of business. If Suzuki only made Sammuri's (sp?) they'd be out of business. Why? Competition, of course. MSFT will face some significant challenges in the next 36- 48 months. During that time, internet applications will come into their own & commoditize end-user computing. For example: Lucent is planning an application rental program for home use. Java developers are building applications to go into widespread use. MSFT's only contribution, thus far, is the truly pitiful Windows CE. Mark my words, MSFT is going to have to jump on the Java bandwagon, if it wants to compete in the 21st century. They can forget about corporate computing, engineering & scientific applications. They can forget about mid-level servers & web- servers. Anything sophisticated is beyond their grasp, so they need to stick to end-user applications & office systems, file service, & desktop applications. Their OS "dominance" is dominating only PCs. They can have it. Miniaturization & networking will revolutionize how people think about using computing devices. Right now the PC market has hit the wall in the US @40 million units & has stayed steady for a number of years. Higher quality computing appliances are on the horizon & they will be cheaper to own & easier to run. MSFT's real problem is that they can't execute. As can be seen by the problems w/NT, they don't know how to engineer software. They've come as far as they have because the industry itself is so new. As it matures, there won't be any tolerance for sub- standard software & support, and there are players who can and will deliver on their promises. MSFT is going to have to shape up or ship out.