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To: Chuzzlewit who wrote (108101)	3/7/1999 10:16:00 PM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 176387

O.T.:Why I invested in MSFT recently...believe it would be over $200 if the DOJ trial was not reality............Posted at 07:50 p.m. PST; Sunday, March 7, 1999 Trial takes a breather, but software giant doesn't by Jay Greene Seattle Times technology reporter Microsoft has some news for you this month. Thursday's unveiling of a new electronic-commerce strategy in San Francisco is just the first of a series of high-profile announcements the software giant is planning for March. In a week and a half, Bill Gates will host a similar show in Redmond when the company unveils the latest iteration of its Web browser, Internet Explorer 5.0. And on March 29, the company will host a conference in New Orleans for corporate information-technology professionals to discuss the rollout of Office 2000. Gates will be making some news on his own, too. On March 24, his new book, "Business @ the Speed of Thought", will hit bookstores. That same day, Gates will sit down for an interview with David Frost at an investment conference in New York. So why is March such a newsy month? To some Microsoft watchers, the answer lies 3,000 miles east, in U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's courtroom in Washington, D.C. After nearly five months of testimony, Jackson has called a six-week recess in the federal government's landmark antitrust case against Microsoft. The daily churn of the trial has generated a level of white noise that Microsoft's public-relations team has had a difficult time penetrating. Microsoft product managers privately express dismay that their efforts are viewed through the prism of the trial and that the company's latest offerings often are overshadowed by the day's events in Washington. The recess offers an opportunity to finally be heard. For its part, Microsoft insists that the break in the trial has nothing to do with the news its plans to make this month. "The two don't have anything to do with one another," Microsoft spokesman Greg Shaw said. Since the trial started in October, the media that follow Microsoft have been preoccupied with the court case. If Microsoft wins, the trial will be viewed as little more than a distraction. But if it losses, as some legal pundits expect, the trial will be among the most important events in Microsoft history. But while the press has focused on events in Jackson's courtroom, Microsoft's business has continued. The company has announced some significant business during the trial, most notably the launch of its SQL Server 7.0 database software at the Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas in November. But other than appearing at Comdex, Gates has not hosted a major product launch or strategy briefing since the trial started. Trying to break news during the recess has pitfalls, said Rob Enderle, an analyst with Giga Information Group in Santa Clara, Calif. The media and analysts are still likely to dwell on the trial, he said. And while few accounts of last week's e-commerce briefing mentioned the trial, it came up during a question-and-answer session with Gates. "I think this is a relatively high-risk strategy," Enderle said. "The unfortunate part is the other stuff has legs." While Enderle understands the need to promote products and strategies, high-profile events with Gates invite trial speculation because he is a central figure in the government's case. "The real risk is that the focus is going to be on Bill," Enderle said. Shaw said that all of the major events in March were scheduled well in advance. While lawyers for the company and Microsoft were talking with Jackson about a March recess back in January, the judge didn't set the date until late February, Microsoft spokesman Greg Shaw said. "If anyone was scheduling a briefing around that, it was a moving target," Shaw said. As important as the trial is to Microsoft, the company isn't about to let events in Washington dictate its product strategy, Shaw said. The company views its major announcements - such as outlining its e-commerce strategy - as well as the big news from competitors as more significant that the day-to-day grind of the trial. "We've got a business to run," Shaw said. "A Dell-IBM deal, an Excite-@home deal, a Microsoft e-commerce day will all have far most lasting impressions than a single day in court." Jay Greene's phone message number is 206-464-3287. His e-mail address is: jgreene@seattletimes.com Copyright © 1999 Seattle Times Company