Re: Software giant plans to argue Explorer development began prior to Netscape

[Mitch Stone <mstone@vc.net>]

--- From a message sent by Charles Behney on 7/28/98 10:34 PM ---

>>                  "We plan to demonstrate in court that Microsoft
>>                was already planning to include the browser in the
>>                operating system as far back as 1993, well before
>>                Netscape was even founded in April '94," Murray
>>                said.

This is going to require more than the usual degree of historical 
revisionism. Microsoft was working on a number of multimedia projects in 
1994, but none of them involved web browsers, or even the web. They were 
in hot pursuit of MSN, then conceived as an AOL-like service. 

I suspect what they're going to do is try to convince the court that some 
part of MSN was just like an integrated web browser. It's ludicrous of 
course -- Microsoft didn't commit to the internet until May '95 and 
Gates' famous "Internet Tidalwave" memo.

   Mitch Stone
   Editor, Boycott Microsoft
   http://www.vcnet.com/bms 
 +---
   Forcing us to divorce the Internet from our operating system
   would be like requiring one of the auto makers to sell cars 
   without car stereos.  --- Bill Gates