Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Reactions to the [MS] breakup proposal

[ Thanks to Kevin
Reichard for this link. ]

“Bill Gates… “In terms of the breakup — and I don’t
know why they call it a reorganization; this is a breakup of an
operating company — the way they’ve defined things here is the
most arbitrary split. This was not developed by anyone who
knows anything about the software business.”

“Jim Barksdale, Former Netscape CEO… “This will give the
industry the kind of start it needs to restore competition. . . .
Almost all of us react negatively to the idea of breaking up a
company. However, this is a shock to the system that will have the
overall benefit of healing and curing in the marketplace.”

“Ramesh Parameswaran… Former Microsoft Group Manager Windows
2000 – “Even if the company were to be split, I think from an
employees standpoint things would pretty much be the same because
Microsoft already operates with independent product units. Most
employees will try to figure out what this means to their job. And
for the most part I think (the jobs) will stay the same. As far as
the stock is concerned, there will be some anxiety among
employees.”

Complete
Story