The itmWEB Information Technology Report

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http://www.itmweb.com http://mis.miningco.com

A monthly report featuring selected IT topics and time sensitive links.

Volume 1, Number 11, November 1, 1997

Welcome to the 11th distribution of the itmWEB Information Technology Report. This month's edition is being distributed worldwide to 668 IT professionals and associates. You are receiving this report because you either requested it from one of the sites above, or you have been added to the email list as having a potential interest. itmWEB's policy is not to SPAM. The itmWEB report is a non-commercial, professional resource, and care is taken to only send the report to interested readers.

Please find instructions for unsubscribing at the end of this report.

Please send comments or contributions to: feedback@itmweb.com

BIG NEWS! Rockwell has announced the development of the fastest modem to date. It operates at 1MPS which is 10-20 times faster than anything on the dial-up market today. It uses standard phone lines and requires no special installation:

http://www.rockwell.com/News/PressRel/PR971028.html

Do you know what the W3C is? Few people understand why the W3C exists, what it does, or how much power it wields. CNET explains this powerful organization and reveals the process by which Web standards get made:

http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Dlife/Inside/?dd

Computerworld covers Novell CEO Eric Schmidt's JAVA strategy. He plans to use it to go after Windows NT:

http://www2.computerworld.com/home/online9697.nsf/CWFlash/971029novells19B36

A quick diversion ... Astronaut Michael Foale's account of what happened when the space station Mir collided with a supply ship:

http://www.time.com/magazine/1997/dom/971103/interview.html

Computerworld posted an analysis of the October 27th stock crash and the impact it had on key technology stocks:

http://www2.computerworld.com/home/online9697.nsf/All/971029wall19AEA

Digital to agrees to sell its semiconductor operations to Intel for $700 million. Does this spell the end of the alpha processor?

Read about it in Windows Magazine:
http://www.winmag.com/news/1001/1027b.htm

or InfoWorld:
http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?sc?971027.elawsuit.htm

SAP America announces that Employee Intranet Application Components will be available soon. This new software will let employees directly enter, change and maintain information within SAP's R/3 application using a browser:

http://www2.computerworld.com/home/online9697.nsf/All/971020sap194F2

Gartner Group's IT Spending Forecast 1997-2002: Investments to Avoid (click fast - Gartner's links disappeared quickly last month):

http://gartner3.gartnerweb.com/public/static/hotc/itme0897.html

The first dedicated Information Technology Chat room has opened up on the Web!

Chat Topics will include:
Information Technology, Project Management, Computer Programming, Software Engineering, Object Oriented Development, Business Use of Technology, and Current Issues.

http://mis.miningco.com/mpchat.htm

The room is open and unmoderated 24 hours a day. Use it as a place to meet your colleagues on the web. As the MIS Guide at the Mining Company, you will usually be able to find me in the room on Monday nights from 8:00pm until 9:30pm CST.

Watch this newsletter for future scheduled Chats with IT celebrities and leaders. A JAVA enabled browser is required.

This Month's Selected IT Topic:

MICROSOFT VERSUS THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

My analysis of the DOJ action posted at the Mining Company:

http://mis.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa102097.htm

(I got a few letters saying the feature was too anti-Microsoft, which is not my position)

CNET editor in chief Christopher Barr expresses his viewpoint:

http://www.cnet.com/Content/Voices/Barr/102797/index.html?dd

Computerworld posts their analysis:

http://www2.computerworld.com/home/online9697.nsf/All/971020microsoft19546

Windows Magazine's view on the DOJ situation:

http://www.winmag.com/news/1001/1028a.htm

Of those responding to a Computerworld survey, 59% of Windows 95 users believed the Department of Justice's charge that Microsoft is using Windows to gain an unfair advantage in other product areas:

http://www2.computerworld.com/home/online9697.nsf/All/971024justice

The heart of the DOJ case - Microsoft threatened to revoke Compaq's Windows 95 license if it didn't install Microsoft's Internet Explorer icon on its Presario PC line:

http://www2.computerworld.com/home/online9697.nsf/All/971023doj19746

MICROSOFT VERSUS SUN

Windows Magazine's coverage of the recent Sun lawsuit regarding JAVA:

http://www.winmag.com/news/1001/1027a.htm

Computerworld's analysis of the Sun JAVA lawsuit:

http://www2.computerworld.com/home/online9697.nsf/All/971028analysts19A42

The InfoWorld story on the same topic:

http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?sc?971027.ecounter3.htm

Other Microsoft Stories:

CNET recently recommended the IE 4.0 browser at their site. They have also been tracking the known bugs and workarounds for the product:

http://www.cnet.com/Dispatch/0%2c118%2c255%2c00.html?dd

Installing Microsoft's NT Server 4.0 doesn't come cheap, it can cost two to three times more than other server network operating systems according to Computerworld. Many companies are staying with version 3.51:

http://www2.computerworld.com/home/print9497.nsf/All/SL42migrat1692A

Gartner Group analysis of the upcoming Microsoft operating system products (click fast - Gartner's links disappeared quickly last month):

http://gartner3.gartnerweb.com/glet/static/samples/s_glcnt099702.html

To get Microsoft's perspective on all this visit:

http://www.microsoft.com/corpinfo

My two cents:

Microsoft WILL add full internet access capability into the Windows operating system. HTML font end applications are the wave of the future, and Microsoft will insure that their operating system is the front end of choice for any and all applications. This DOJ action makes the road a little rocky for Microsoft to get there.

JAVA needs to remain compatible across all platforms and operating systems. I agree with the scores of companies which are taking this position on this language. Microsoft needs to play ball on this issue.

 --------------------------------------------------
 Site               Jan-96      Apr-97      May-97
 --------------------------------------------------
 America Online     1 (41%)     1 (44%)     1 (46%)
 Yahoo              4 (29%)     2 (37%)     2 (37%)
 Netscape           3 (31%)     3 (33%)     3 (31%)
 Geocities         16           5 (20%)     4 (21%)
 Microsoft          -           4 (20%)     5 (21%)
 Excite            19           6 (19%)     6 (20%)
 InfoSeek           5 (21%)     8 (15%)     7 (17%)
 Lycos             24           9 (15%)     8 (14%)
 MSN                -           -           9 (13%)
 WebCrawler         2 (33%)     7 (18%)    10 (13%)
 AltaVista                     10 (13%)    11 (12%)
 --------------------------------------------------
 Sample size:      1,000       10,000      10,000

MIS Benchmarks and Metrics Scoreboard: http://mis.miningco.com/blbench.htm

Job/Career Resource Center:
http://mis.miningco.com/msub31.htm

Policies & Procedures:
http://mis.miningco.com/msub23.htm

Security
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/1814/security.htm

CASE Tools
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/1814/case.htm

IT Reference
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/1814/links.html

AITP Worldwide MIS Forum:
http://www.pergatory.com/powerforum/pwrforum.exe?who=rfinney

The JobBOARD Surf Shop
http://www.jobsurfshop.com/

Bob Reilly has developed a site where you can post resumes and company job openings for free!

Please forward this newsletter to colleagues who may have an interest in these topics, or who may wish to subscribe.

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