^{December 4, 1996.}
Can Microsoft be successfully challenged?

        Well, the war wages on. Microsoft has allied with their old friend Intel to make Network Computers. This follows Sun, Oracle, and Netscape's bid to do the same. Last year, Bill Gates (Microsoft President and Co-Founder) scoffed at the idea of stripped PCs, saying that it "Would never provide the real power that users want."

        Network computers, or NCs, are basically somewhere between terminal and PC. they lack a strong processor and non-disk bays. They serve to function for e-mail sending, and internet/intranet surfing, as well as a few minimal programs. This idea was the brainchild of Oracle. They saw that many managers had computers, but yet only used a few of the funtions. Thus the NC, so that the functions managers use would be available for a smaller price. The demand for Local Area Networks (LANs) serving out large powerful programs to users with little or no processing power, is exploding. While Microsoft thought a network of IPX'd PCs would be most popular, systems running a mid-range computer, such as the IBM AS/400 are the winners.

        Compare this to the reason why IBM won the PC market. This latter style network is more adaptable to the needs of workers. Not to mention cheaper. Isn't it ironic? Microsoft goes one way, then when somebody else decides to go another way, they go too. Perhaps Microsoft trusts the ideas of others more? But their embrace and extend policy covers this. No matter which way the industry leads, Microsoft is there shortly, taking in more money. Microsoft will certainly hurt competitors like Netscape. Netscape, while still the leader in browsers, is hurting under the Microsoft 'in your face' strategy.

        Microsoft has so much versatility that the only market where they have yet to compete successfully is games. While some of Microsoft's games are selling decently, many attribute their failure to Microsoft's strength. In games, the product isn't successful unless it's radically better or different. Microsoft's policy fails here. Of course, games are only a small portion of the software market. Sales of Lotus Office packages are down, and the Corel package reportedly has too many bugs. It is said that IBM is keeping a distance from the battle and building their own niches. If IBM had joined the fight, they might have wound up with a sucker punch. But without help, Sun and others may fail. Word is that Sun may try and use Java to throw the tide. The logic is: "without supporting a buzzword, support for Internet Explorer will drop." They are almost right. You can only get ahead of Microsoft by making something good thats hard to copy. Easier said than done.


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