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Technology Stocks : MSFT Internet Explorer vs. NSCP Navigator -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Keith Hankin who wrote (22400)	1/12/1999 3:37:00 PM
From: Charles Hughes	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 24154

>>> Install KDE desktop, and you'll see that it is getting much closer in ease-of-use. <<< The problem is getting past the point where the consumer is installing Unix gadgets. For instance, you can't possibly install Linux without knowing what a disk cylinder, tcp/ip, partitions, and graphics adapter are. Among many other things. That's hardly a consumer task, and is a pretty tough thing for the average IS support person. Which is why close to 100% of Linux boxes are owned or directly run by programmers and engineers and web server specialists. If I hadn't installed UNIX from scratch a number of times, and had a linux box myself back in '95, I might have been quite confused, even with Red Hat. MSFT has gotten past this problem by having the OEMs install Win95 in advance. (Just upgrading Win95 can quickly go bad enough.) You can also buy OS/2 boxes, UNIX boxes, and NT boxes pre-installed from Compaq and others for use as servers, simplifying installation by at least a factor of ten and opening up the market. Perhaps that is the solution for Linux as well. I wouldn't mind learning about KDE, though. Got a link, perchance? Is this an admin tool? For a desktop, X is fine for me, but I would be willing to try whatever is out there just to see it.

To: Keith Hankin who wrote (22400)	1/12/1999 9:52:00 PM
From: Reginald Middleton	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 24154

The Government's case, Schmalensee wrote in his direct testimony, amounts to "speculation" based on a "morass of e-mails" from Microsoft executives that at first glance may seem damaging, but are not. Forget the atmospherics, he tells the court, and focus on the outcome -- what he insists is a lack of measurable harm, current or future, to consumers from Microsoft's business practices. "Proper economic inquiry into whether a company is engaged in anticompetitive conduct should end if it concludes that consumers have not been harmed by the conduct at issue and are not likely to be harmed in the future," Schmalensee wrote.... In his testimony, Schmalensee describes the suit by the Justice Department and 19 states as "fundamentally inconsistent." The Government asserts, he notes, that Microsoft has an enduring monopoly because its Windows operating system controls the basic operations on more than 90 percent of personal computers sold, and that barriers to entry in that market are high. On the other hand, he adds, the Government says that Microsoft invested hundreds of millions of dollars because it was scared of losing its dominance to an upstart maker of Internet browser software, the Netscape Communications Corporation. "What is striking about the late-night e-mails and the almost frantic concern over competitive threats is that they show that Microsoft itself was extremely insecure about its leadership in operating systems," Schmalensee said.