Date: Sat, 7 Jun 1997 10:23:36 +0100 From: Robin Melville <robmel@innotts.co.uk> To: "Michael L. VanLoon -- HeadCandy.com" <michaelv@MindBender.serv.net>, Michael Smith <msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au> Cc: stefan@exis.net, pgiffuni@fps.biblos.unal.edu.co, jdd@vbc.net, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Exchange vs. Notes Message-ID: <l03010d01afbed394f908@[194.176.130.91]> In-Reply-To: <199706070723.AAA01292@MindBender.serv.net> References: Your message of Sat, 07 Jun 97 16:39:06 %2B0930. <199706070709.QAA11320@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au>
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At 8:23 am +0100 7/6/97, Michael L. VanLoon -- HeadCandy.com wrote: > >And don't believe MS is going to ignore the ISP market forever. On >the other hand, what they develop will most likely be significantly >cheaper than commercial Unix solutions, but will still not be free. > I've been following this strand with interest. I guess that the thing that most concerns me is what will happen when Microsoft has no competition left? At the moment it's busily out-investing its competitors in every sphere it can, and making sure that it locks in its customers once they're there. How long can Netscape survive when explorer comes with W95 which comes with your PC -- like it or not? How long can Lotus, or even POP3 clients like Eudora/Pegasus survive when Exchange clients are /right there/ on the brand new W95 desktop that came with your PC etc.etc. With Apple hanging on by its fingernails, and OS/2 scarcely in the picture, how long will it be before the only alternative to Windows is XFree? Watch for the demise of the remaining commercial desktop/departmental unixes over the next few years as NT underprices them (not difficult). Watch for the retreat of Oracle/Informix to mainframes as backoffice SQLserver undercuts their (outrageous) prices. M$ is already offering ISP's free licences for NT (for one year) here to try to wean them off unix boxes. And then what? How long before 80% of Internet traffic is MS proprietary? Microsoft hustles aggressively in every area where there is still competition. What happens when the competition has finally been destroyed? I know this has all been said over & over again, and I apologise. But the prospect of a world wide monopoly in desktop computing and corporate systems is terrifying. This is bigger than IBM ever managed. Robin. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Robin Melville, Addiction Information Services Nottingham Alcohol & Drug Team Tel: +44 (0)115 952 9478 Fax: +44 (0)115 952 9421 work: robmel@nadt.org.uk home: robmel@innotts.co.uk Pages: http://www.innotts.co.uk/~robmel (home page) http://www.innotts.co.uk/nadt (substance misuse pages) ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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