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

To: t2 who wrote (16415)	2/18/1999 7:44:00 PM
From: RTev	Respond to of 74651

Even the worst possible "structural remedy" doesn't seem all that terrible on reflection. That would be the licensing of Windows to third parties. The big question: Which version of Windows would be licensed? This case is all about the DOS-Windows OS (95/98). It doesn't concern NT where bundling of things like a free web server isn't questioned because Microsoft doesn't have anything close to a monopoly in that market. If they have to license an OS, it would be a code base that Microsoft has been saying for years is dead. How would that affect Microsoft? They'd gain licensing fees from companies creating slightly new versions from that otherwise dead code base. But they'd also face competition from those companies when they introduce their own consumer OS based on NT or CE or whatever they might decide to use. That competition would probably depress initial income from the new OS, but it might allow Microsoft to charge higher prices for what could be marketed as a premium OS. And if those other companies managed to convince folks that DOS-Windows is "good enough", Microsoft could keep on selling their version of the "real" thing. At worst, it looks like Microsoft would be in a position like Intel's where clone-makers offer a cheaper version of the last generation of a chip. Branding and the Moore-law advance in chips is the way Intel succeeds (usually) in that market. Microsoft already has a tremendous branding advantage in its market. I suspect they'd be inspired by competition and would do quite well.