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To: rudedog who wrote (21470)	11/14/1998 12:04:00 PM
From: Daniel Schuh	Respond to of 24154

Thanks, rudedog, you are courteous and informative as ever. The Palm story did seem a little too blatant to be true, especially in the midsts of the current suit. It fit with my understanding of some past actions/ acquisitions, but not anything as visible as Palm. The other story, without a published source, I didn't take that seriously. I perhaps have a tendency to take Bill's public pronouncements too seriously. He's actually been fairly quiet lately, aside from the shareholders meeting this week. As far as the other companies go, I have no illusions, but I also see them in a much weaker position competitively. Which is where the "everybody does it" defense has some problems. Its usage is highly context dependent among the friends of Bill, Microsoft competitors aren't often given much credence outside of this particular legal context. Back on the subject of Bill, I finally found a link to an interesting NYT article I meant to post but lost track of. Since it's based on an internal memo ( openly offered, not leaked ), it's most likely just Bill the salesman again, I wouldn't read much more into it than Bill perceiving his pugnacious public pronouncements were perhaps counterproductive. Plus maybe finally realizing acting as his own attorney wasn't in his best interest. But who can say? All I know is, I love the smell of alliteration in the morning. Microsoft Memo Offers a Glimpse of Gates 2.0 nytimes.com At the end of his memo, Gates calls for the help of his Microsoft colleagues in meeting the challenges he spells out. He alludes to the sense of privilege he feels in being part of the positive impact he says the company's effort will have on the way people work, learn and communicate. He even suggests a source of further reading, a Web site on Microsoft's internal network. But nowhere in the 10,000-word tome does he mention the one external force that could alter Microsoft's future more fundamentally than the forays of any software competitor: the federal antitrust trial scheduled to begin in Washington next Monday. But then, this is the new, less-engaged, more geeky Bill Gates, who leaves such vexations to his operational subordinates. "He's not preoccupied with the legal case," Herbold said of Gates. Referring to the company's general counsel, Herbold added that "Bill Neukom will tell us when we need his input." Cheers, Dan.

To: rudedog who wrote (21470)	11/14/1998 2:17:00 PM
From: Charles Hughes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

>>> I have a lot of interface with people who are affected by MSFT in one way or another <<< Does this mean you work for MSFT? >>> across the board the word I get is that attitudes have changed significantly in the last year. If true, this would be the same liberating effect that the long-running antitrust suits against IBM and AT&T had on the technology industry, while they were ongoing. Hopefully this suit is having the same effect. However, this suit will not go on as long, nor will it require a Reagan White House overbalanced by donations to terminate it. I hadn't noticed any significant change in attitude until the last few weeks, and I believe that this most recent quietude is just the simple result of not wanting to get caught beating the wife while the judge is in town. 'In the last year' would be quite an exaggeration given events this very year. IMO. Including the many and extremely vicious attacks in this very forum by the MSFT employees and partisans, and the many events elsewhere amply documented here and in the press. Only fools will be fooled by any sudden PR-massaged image adjustment of the last few weeks. Chaz P.S. No personal slander intended here, rudedog.