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Microsoft.Net: Windows to the Webspace

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz (TMF Edible)
June 22, 2000

Summary: Microsoft announces plans for enhanced back-end software that will further embed the Internet into computer software programs. One Fool thinks today's news will actually help soften Microsoft's greedy image.

Just a day after receiving a stay of spliced execution -- as its antitrust case is likely headed for appeals at the Supreme Court -- Rule Maker Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is still bent on world domination.

Earlier today at the Forum 2000 powwow, Bill Gates introduced Microsoft.Net. The new strategy, highlighted by what is known as "middleware" software because it helps piece various applications together, is designed to further embed the Internet as a resource within other Microsoft offerings.

Does that mean that you will be able to replace that annoying paper clip mascot with the Pets.com (Nasdaq: PETS) sock puppet? Probably not -- and why would you want to? -- but it will allow for more interaction between your computer and Internet available data.

On the surface it appears as if the software's rollout has about the same knack for timing as a toddler using pots and pans as a drum set. With the Department of Justice accusing Rich Uncle Pennybags of Monopoly, here comes a system that further embeds the company's applications software with its browser and operating system.

It's laying down more middleware plumbing at a time when the government was getting ready to force feed Liquid Dran-O to clear the pipes. Obviously Bill Gates, who handed the CEO reigns to Steve Ballmer half a year ago to serve as architect on this new project, is smarter than this all appears to be.

Will this serve as a distraction? Is this vaporware in sacrificial lamb clothing? Will the software ability be watered down on purpose, only to show the DOJ how stifling stagnation can be to entrepreneurial spirits?

Look closer and it all might become clearer. In some ways, Microsoft.Net is angling to displace its own Windows operating system. It embraces many Internet programming language standards -- like XML -- rather than relying on the proprietary. It also opens up new possibilities in wireless and Internet applications that no longer rely on the desktop as a springboard.

While not exactly a chocolate-coated olive branch to the DOJ, it certainly shows how any company can develop a cybertweaked standard that embraces open architecture while holding its own against Windows. Sure, it just happened to be Microsoft itself this time. It was Linux before that. Still, can it be a true monopoly when a company can compete against itself? There are steps to climb in the U.S. Supreme Court. The answer lies at the top.

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