“Brain drain or gain, Microsoft faces stiff competition with
its new strategy. Although no threat yet to Windows as a PC
operating system, Linux is a force to be reckoned with in the
server market pursued by Microsoft with Windows 2000.
Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems offer similar technologies.
And a host of Internet start-ups are working individually on
services that Microsoft hopes to tie together with .NET.”
“At Sun, we’ve been doing for the past five years what Microsoft
is just getting around to saying it will do,” scoffed Anil Gadre,
vice president of marketing for the network-server maker. “Is .NET
leadership or followship?”
“Noting, however, that Microsoft historically has succeeded by
being late to a new market, Gadre said, “We continue to be paranoid
about Microsoft’s presence. The way we’ll win is by making better
products and beating Microsoft to the market.”