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

To: Bearded One who wrote (22704)	2/17/1999 4:45:00 AM
From: Rusty Johnson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

A look into the present ... for MSFT cult members. Well, they won't be interested and I'm sure you've seen them. But thanks for trying to educate the masses. It's an uphill climb. Here's a review and a screenshot of the KDE desktop running on Linux anyway: One objection to KDE is that it looks a lot like MS Windows 95. Once you use it for a while, though, you realize KDE is not much like Windows 95 at all. It does have a silver bar along the display bottom (and top), and icons on the left side. However, every aspect of KDE's appearance is configurable; these are just what come out of the box. Similarities to Windows 95 end at the screen pixels. linuxjournal.com More screenshots: kde.org Linux has captured 17% of the server market without a company, a marketing department, hordes of cash, or threatening to break anyone's kneecaps. Best of luck. Linux ... may the best OS win!

To: Bearded One who wrote (22704)	2/17/1999 1:57:00 PM
From: Andy Thomas	Respond to of 24154

Within the management of companies like MSFT, SUNW, and NSCP, they all know that control over the APIs is the key. Controlling the APIs allows a company to dictate the direction of the industry. "Out of all the businesses which are legal, this is the best way to make money." FWIW Andy

To: Bearded One who wrote (22704)	2/18/1999 2:06:00 AM
From: Gerald R. Lampton	Respond to of 24154

They were actually somewhat excited about the idea of Microsoft being split up--- they viewed this as another "Standard Oil," which made more money after being split. How many of the posts you read were legitimate, and how many were by people from Microsoft masquerading as legitimate in order to spin it? ;) I realize that this is not like AT&T or Standard Oil, because most of those companies' assets were physical, and the breakups were geographic. And, those were diminishing returns, rising marginal cost, multifirm industries. Also, one cannot assume that, just because the increase in wealth followed the breakups in those cases, the latter caused the former. Particularly in the case of the phone companies, there was a lot of extraneous technological change going on. On the other hand, it is not impossible that the breakup of Microsoft would lead to greater wealth; in fact it may be likely. I don't know what open source would do in the long run to Microsoft. In the short run, it would startle and horrify many of the smaller investors. I think Chairman Bill could spin it any way he wants, and investors big and small would follow along. I also think that, to the extent open source really is a superior way to do software, investors big and small will eventually catch on. I don't know what the long-term impact would be, either, though I think it may be the only effective way out for them from the W2K problem, and the even bigger problems that await them as their programs grow ever larger. But I can say what I think Microsoft's trial strategy should be: Pray to God Boies gets his breakup order. Microsoft will get a nice stay pending appeal and litigate it up and down the appellate system for years, including to the Supreme Court, where it will be reversed and remanded to have the District Court impose conduct remedies instead. Those will get appealed. That should take about three to five years, by which time technology and events will have overtaken the case, and Microsoft can move to dismiss it as moot. ;)