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

To: t2 who wrote (13570)	12/28/1998 2:42:00 PM
From: DownSouth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

>Takeover targets? - Informix and Sybase Don't think so. Sybase was MSFT's original partner for SQL Server. Then MSFT bolted and stole the code (legally, I am sure). (So MSFT would gain nothing from Sybase acquisition.) It's been down hill for Sybase since the divorce. Informix- I stopped following some time ago. They seem to be just withering away. (Anyone with contrary information, jump in here.)

To: t2 who wrote (13570)	12/28/1998 3:05:00 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

If MSFT wants to get into the high end of databases, why not invest or buy these companies? I don't think, as a political matter, that Gates can buy anybody who looks like they can dominate in their market. Just too much potential hassle from the DOJ. I saw this happen when I was with P&G in the 50's. They bought Clorox and had to get rid of it, because the DOJ said that P&G was too good at marketing, and would take too much business. This is the kind of nonsense that goes on with the anti-trust laws.

To: t2 who wrote (13570)	12/29/1998 1:47:00 AM
From: rudedog	Respond to of 74651

tech - A little history. When the original Sybase team was struggling to get off the ground, Bob Epstein got backing from Bill Gates. This gave Gates (personally) a 20% stake in Sybase. Later, this equity stake was resolved through a complex series of moves which gave MSFT the absolute rights to the Sybase SQL codeline, but 1 rev behind current Sybase product. MSFT was able to create their own SQL product (which ran on OS/2) with only a handful of engineers - less than 10 people in all. As NT neared launch, MSFT wanted to create their own version of SQL for NT, and in 1993 they started the negotiation to get a separate codeline. That was completed in 1994, and MSFT SQL has gradually diverged from Sybase SQL since then. SQL 7 has only a few areas in common with Sybase, and the next rev from MSFT will be free of the Sybase code. MSFT also got a number of key Sybase people, including Dave Marshall, who was one of the principle Sybase architects.