Microsoft worried about browser threats
Friday, 23. September 2005, 13:50:48
Microsoft's Nightmare - Internet could kill Windows
Microsoft's nightmare inches closer to reality
By Elinor Mills, CNET
Story last modified Fri Sep 23 04:00:00 PDT 2005
As early as May 1995, three months before Netscape Communications' initial public offering sparked the dot-com boom, Microsoft executives were worried that the nascent World Wide Web could one day become a significant threat to the Windows franchise.
In an extensive memo called "The Web is the Next Platform" that was introduced as evidence in Microsoft's antitrust trial five years ago, Microsoft engineer Ben Slivka described a "nightmare" scenario for the software giant.
"The Web...exists today as a collection of technologies that deliver some interesting solutions today, and will grow rapidly in the coming years into a full-fledged platform (underlined for emphasis in the original memo) that will rival--and even surpass--Microsoft's Windows," Slivka wrote.
What's new:
A decade ago, Microsoft worried that the Internet could become a software platform that threatens Windows. Ten years later, that amorphous nightmare has a name: Google.
Bottom line:
Microsoft isn't in danger of falling apart anytime soon: The Windows monopoly, Office desktop suite and Exchange e-mail system give the company plenty of money to battle the threat. But it's fair to say Microsoft's hammerlock is loosening.
Microsoft's nightmare inches closer to reality
By Elinor Mills, CNET
Story last modified Fri Sep 23 04:00:00 PDT 2005
As early as May 1995, three months before Netscape Communications' initial public offering sparked the dot-com boom, Microsoft executives were worried that the nascent World Wide Web could one day become a significant threat to the Windows franchise.
In an extensive memo called "The Web is the Next Platform" that was introduced as evidence in Microsoft's antitrust trial five years ago, Microsoft engineer Ben Slivka described a "nightmare" scenario for the software giant.
"The Web...exists today as a collection of technologies that deliver some interesting solutions today, and will grow rapidly in the coming years into a full-fledged platform (underlined for emphasis in the original memo) that will rival--and even surpass--Microsoft's Windows," Slivka wrote.
What's new:
A decade ago, Microsoft worried that the Internet could become a software platform that threatens Windows. Ten years later, that amorphous nightmare has a name: Google.
Bottom line:
Microsoft isn't in danger of falling apart anytime soon: The Windows monopoly, Office desktop suite and Exchange e-mail system give the company plenty of money to battle the threat. But it's fair to say Microsoft's hammerlock is loosening.
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