“Microsoft’s next consumer operating system will meld together
bits and pieces of both Windows 98 and Windows 2000… a hodgepodge
that raises questions about the company’s overall strategy for its
consumer platform.1”
“Microsoft will release Millennium, another version of Windows
98, next year and Neptune, a consumer version of NT, in 2001 at the
earliest. …the lines are not clear-cut because beta testers now
report that Millennium contains elements of Windows NT, the
consumerish Windows 98 and Windows 2000, a corporate desktop
operating system coming at the end of this year. Microsoft recently
released a preliminary version of the Millennium code to developers
and hardware partners.
Although observers say these kinds of twists and turns are
typical on the road to a major software release, some critics
wonder if all the changes might actually be fueled by competitive
challenges, such as the Linux operating system and America
Online’s popular instant messaging software.”