[ Thanks to Paul
Eggert for this link. ]
“Microsoft Corp. said Monday that it will spend $2 billion in
the next three years to provide training and new tools to its
legion of independent software developers, a move designed in part
to keep them from defecting to competitors….”
“With a federal judge poised to break up the world’s largest
software company this week, and the Internet spawning new
competitors to the Windows monopoly, Microsoft finds itself at a
digital crossroads. Even its loyal developers are up for grabs, as
competitors such as Sun Microsystems, IBM, Linux and Oracle are
offering competing Internet programs….”
“I think Microsoft is more vulnerable than it has been in
five years,” said George Dunphy, a programmer for Cyberplex, a
Web applications designer in Toronto, Canada. “Windows still
has its huge share, but there is a real move in the developer
community toward Linux and Java.“