The nature of the two-pronged attack Microsoft will be mounting on Linux in the server market became clearer at yesterday's analyst meeting, as Ballmer and Gates on the one hand claimed a storming first few months for Windows 2003, and on the other ramped up "intellectual property" and "open ended liability" for customers issues. The first of these, essentially about convincing everybody you've won already then converting the claims to reality, is a (or whould that be 'the'?) traditional Microsoft sales and marketing play, while the second, only to be expected, plays the SCO Linux litigation for all it's worth.
The sign-off in
this CNET report provides a little helpful perspective on Microsoft's qualifications to comment on lawsuits. "It was obviously a good year," quips Ballmer: "We were able to resolve more actions than started up." The difference here, of course, is that although Microsoft has a more or less permanent lawsuit processing plant, it is not currently experiencing much in the way of product- and/or customer-threatening litigation (although Intertrust could still have that potential). It has experienced these in the past, but has bought its way out of them, so that's all right then.
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Jul 26, 2003, 03:52 AM
