Next up: Intel in the hotseat

...Now it's Intel's turn to face the music. The company next week squares off against the government, which contends that the giant chipmaker violated antitrust laws. But, after watching the miserable court performance turned in by Wintel partner Microsoft, Intel intends to adopt a far different court strategy. For starters, don't expect Intel to contest every little fact offered into evidence. And unlike Microsoft, Intel will acknowledge that it plays rough -- but there ain't nothing illegal about that. Who knows how it will play with the FTC administrators hearing the case, but it's the strategy Microsoft should have used.

...In the category of scenes we'd love to see, who could have asked for a better setup: When the Software Information Industry Association assembles in Los Angeles for its annual March conference, the keynote address will be given by none other than Microsoft muckety muck, Bob Herbold. That could make for an oh-so-delicious occasion, considering how a still secret report by the software trade association, whose membership includes Microsoft, urges the government to break up the software giant in the event that the court concludes it's guilty of antitrust violations.

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And in the week that was
...When Linus Torvalds called for a jihad against Microsoft, he didn't mention the Redmondians by name. Actually, he didn't need to because the rapt developers listening to him speak at LinuxWorld easily read between the lines. Instead of scaling the OS to compete against Unix, the Linux creator told his growing fan club of confreres to focus on porting Linux to PCs and PDAs -- and everything in between. It's a bold move and one that's aimed squarely at Microsoft. Meanwhile, here come GUI-like front ends to Linux, such as Gnome and KDE, to make the OS that much more accessible to the non-geek community. Rest assured Bill Gates' minions will surely attempt to leverage current events for all it's worth when the company's antitrust case reconvenes in April. Microsoft lawyers have repeatedly held up Linux as a competitive threat, which would give the lie to the government charge Microsoft operates a monopoly.
Linux takes aim at the desktop
ZDNN Special Report: LinuxWorld '99

...The groundswell of excitement surrounding the Linux phenomenon has caught the attention of Sun Microsystems, which plans to distribute its chip designs to all comers for free. The idea is to extend the appeal of Sun's chip designs by targeting academics and startups. They'd only need to pay Sun after they begin shipping commercial products based around the chip design. In the meantime, Sun gets to create new buzz for its designs. Not a bad idea.
Sun to open chip code

...Microsoft put on a command performance - including an appearance by CEO Bill Gates - as it laid out its e-commerce strategy to reporters and analysts. Microsoft's "E-commerce for everyone" motto is a bit much, but so is its goal of bringing one million new businesses online. Can they do it? Well, Gates and Co. has lined up several heavyweight partners -- such as PeopleSoft and SAP -- to help push its vision. Also, the acquisition of CompareNet, a comparison shopping site, gives it instant access to a site with 45,000 products. But Microsoft's undeniably late to the dance. And the various pieces of technology that comprise its e-commerce solution won't be ready until year-end, at best. A skeptic would be tempted to dismiss the entire episode as an example of vaporware. Perhaps so, but for Microsoft, it's also a good start.
MS eyes bigger share of e-business pie
MS steps up e-commerce efforts

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Diller: Here's the deal - take it or leave it!
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Quark fires back at Adobe
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