“The Microsoft.Net initiative announced Thursday is aimed at
allowing individuals to access data and software from a wide array
of devices via the Internet and letting Microsoft sell software
services rather than pre-packaged products. But many high-tech
providers said they already are developing or selling such services
over the Web.”
“Microsoft’s latest strategy amounts to a “retrofit
model,” said George Paolini, vice president of Java community
development at Sun Microsystems Inc. in Palo Alto, a longtime
rival of Microsoft. “If you read between the lines, Microsoft is
looking for a way to extend the life of their Windows-based
products. . . . It’s a new face on an old approach,” Paolini
said.”
“This is several years late on two fronts. The
operating system is not the center of gravity anymore. They are
also late in recognizing the function of what the Internet is all
about,” said Scott Hebner, director of e-business marketing at
IBM, which is based in Armonk, N.Y. IBM started to focus
seriously on network-based computing in late 1995, Hebner
said.”