DowJones.com: [Windows faces tough competition from Linux]

Jan 31, 2000, 22:41 (18 Talkback[s])

"Gates... has taken on the job of chief software architect as Microsoft readies to take on new competition, ranging from a merged America Online Inc. and Time Warner Inc., to the surging popularity of the upstart Linux operating system."

"Commenting on the rise of Linux, the free, Internet-based computer operating system that competes with Microsoft's Windows products, Gates said: 'We certainly have Linux and various forms of Linux as a significant competitor.'

But he added that Linux is 'in essence Unix from 20 years ago,' and expressed confidence that Microsoft's new Windows 2000 software will be successful in fending off competition. ... But Windows faces tough competition from Linux, and the fact that the Internet is based on a set of common interfaces and protocols that aren't dependent on any particular operating-system platform, making it far harder for Microsoft to drive the world toward its software."

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