Date: Fri 22-May-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

iinfo-Microsoft-Bill-Gates

Full Text:

INTERNET INFO FOR REAL PEOPLE: The Case Against Microsoft

By Bob Brand

June 25, 1998. This is the official release date for Microsoft (MS) Windows

98. It may not happen. Let's go back a few months. Bill Gates and a few

software honchos were invited to Washington DC by Senator Orin Hatch to come

before his committee. The subject under discussion was competition (or lack of

it) in the software industry.

Perhaps the defining moment came when Netscape's Jim Barksdale turned around

in his seat, faced the gallery and asked: "By a show of hands, how many people

use MS operating system software?" It appeared to anyone watching that

everyone had raised their hands. Barksdale turned around, addressed Hatch and

said, "That looks like a monopoly to me, Senator."

In this high stakes game, Bill Gates, who is Microsoft, faces problems on many

fronts. His competitors stand unified against his company. On the federal

level, they have elicited the help of recently minted lobbyist Robert Bork,

the embattled Supreme Court nominee, and former Senator Bob Dole.

Perhaps even more troublesome for Gates is that 20 attorneys general,

including Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal, plan antitrust suits against MS.

They intend to file an injunction to block the shipment of Windows 98 in its

current form.

One of the central issues of contention is the bundling of the MS Internet

browser, Explorer, with the operating system. If no agreement can be reached

between MS and the government, the official release date of June 25 goes down

the tubes.

Just to put some perspective on this looming debacle, Microsoft has tested the

early pre-released version (called beta) with over 30,000 users. MS must ship

Windows 98 shortly in order to have the software in the hands of OEMs

(Original Equipment Manufacturers) like Dell, Gateway, IBM, Compaq, Hewlett

Packard and many others so that the product can ship on new computers on

schedule.

Microsoft expects to sell $1 billion worth of Windows 98 to 30 million users

in its first year after release. This is serious money. However, since Windows

98 is primarily designed for the home and small business market, you and I

will see little immediate impact. Frankly, I do not plan to upgrade to Windows

98 until I hear that the product is stable and provides enough reasons why I

should pony up the $90 (street price) for it.

Fighting Back

Bill Gates is not exactly rolling over and playing dead in the face of these

obstacles. However, in characteristic MS style, he has gotten off to a shaky

start.

The Los Angeles Times somehow acquired an embarrassing confidential document.

It detailed a media campaign giving the impression of an apparent "grassroots

eruption of support" for MS. Orchestrated by Edelman Public Relations, a high

powered Washington DC spin-house, the LA Times story blew up on MS when it was

learned that authors of planted stories would be paid from MS coffers. Bill

Gates should have consulted Bill Clinton regarding media and damage control.

Bowing to the pressure, MS has backed off a notch in a few areas. For example,

ICP (Internet Content Providers, such as AOL, CNN Disney and others) are no

longer forced to promote only the MS browser, Internet Explorer. In the battle

of federal "it's who you know," MS has hired high powered conservative and

liberal lobbyists Haily Barbour, Grover Norquist, Vin Weber and Tom Downey. It

will be interesting to see if MS has put together a winning team to fend off

the lawmakers.

The New Bill

The ultimate weapon, of course, is Bill Gates himself. We have seen him with a

new hairdo, being interviewed by Barbara Walters, appearing in a golf club ad,

and catching a pie in the face.

Frankly, whatever he pitches, he comes off, at least to this observer, as a

credible spokesman. If he has a sense of history, he will be aware of his

peril. In 1969, IBM became the focus of attack by the Washington trustbusters.

IBM was forced to restructure. IBM was never the same. Perhaps history will

repeat itself.

At this writing, the talks between the government and Gates have broken down.

MS started shipping Windows 98 to the OEMs on Monday, May 18. The feds and the

state governments are suing. Stay tuned.

The Ongoing Story

How all this plays out will be viewed with more than just mild interest. MS

bought WebTV in 1997. Just recently, it was announced that "Saturday Night

Live" (SNL) will be broadcast on WebTV. Perhaps we will see Gates host a show.

Barring that, I would like him to answer the famous "five questions" on "The

Daily Show" before host Craig Kilborn moves to his new CBS late night spot.

Hey, you never know.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,21246,00.html?st.cn.fd.tkr.news

http://www1.sjmercury.com/business/microsoft/docs/micro041098.htm

(This is the 104th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the

Internet. Next, "Thanks" is the subject on tap. Stay tuned. Until next week,

happy travels through cyberspace.

Previous issues of Internet Info for Real People (including links to sites

mentioned in this article) can be found: http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail

comments and suggestions to rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)