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MS jabs Netscape while Compaq smooches PowerPC

The Yankee fans are behaving themselves this year, but Microsoft gave Netscape a Bronx cheer.

2 min read
The DuBaud family is not known for its love of sports, but even my son and I are psyched about the World Series. Being underdogs ourselves, Vermel and I are naturally rooting for the Yankees. We've still managed to create a uniquely DuBaudian experience out of this year's Series. Instead of a seventh inning stretch, we fire up our brand, spanking-new WebTV set-top box and guzzle sports statistics from the Net. Next week, we'll be nonjocks again.

The Yankee fans are behaving themselves this year, but Microsoft gave Netscape a Bronx cheer. After Netscape unveiled its 1997 product strategy in New York last week, the Redmondians thumbed their noses at most of Netscape's efforts in a notice posted to its Web site. Both companies do their darndest to rain on each others' parades, but Microsoft's notice comes across as particularly sour grapes.

Microsoft also appears to be floating funny numbers for its Web server market share in one of the documents on its site. Citing a monthly survey of Web sites by Netcraft, Bill and Company claim that their Internet Information Server captured 22 percent of the server market as of October 1, while Netscape's Web servers trail behind at lowly 10 percent.

The Redmondians should have put on their spectacles when they were copying down the numbers, though. Netcraft's actual figures show Microsoft with 9.52 percent of the server market and Netscape with 13.97 percent. (Incidentally, both of those figures are dwarfed by the Apache freeware server's 38.48 percent.)

With Microsoft and Netscape constantly duking it out, it's nice to see romance is in the air between other companies. According to my spies, Compaq and Motorola executives have been spotted smooching recently at the latter's PowerPC fabrication plant in Austin, Texas. Rumor has it that Compaq is once again considering selling PowerPC clones and that it may license the Mac OS from Motorola for the machines. You will not find romance at Yankee Stadium. Then again, I can't find romance anywhere. Mail me a tip so I don't feel sorry for myself.