[NTLUG:Discuss] Fwd: [Fwd: Windows 2000 Magazine UPDATE, August 29, 2000]

Michael Owens owensmk at earthlink.net
Thu Aug 31 13:12:22 CDT 2000


A friend sent this to me. I haven't been keeping up with this list lately,
perhaps you all already know this, but here it is just the same - 


************************************************************ 
WINDOWS 2000 MAGAZINE UPDATE 
The weekly Windows 2000 and Windows NT industry update newsletter
http://www.win2000mag.net/Email/Index.cfm?ID=1
************************************************************

This week's issue sponsored by

Previo
http://www.previo.com/win2000update

Storage Summit 2000
http://www.ca.com/events/storage_summit/
(below KEEPING UP WITH NT)

|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|-+-|
August 29, 2000 - In this issue:

1. COMMENTARY
     - Is Microsoft Porting Its Applications to UNIX?

2. HOT OFF THE PRESS
     - Exclusive: Microsoft Working to Port Applications to Linux
     - Mainsoft Announces IE, WMP Porting Effort
     - Microsoft Denies UNIX Office Efforts

3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
     - Windows 2000 & Exchange Connections Conference
     - Are You Keeping Up?
     - Instant Poll (sponsored by IBM DB2)

4. KEEPING UP WITH NT
     - NT 4.0 Roaming Profile Printer Bug Fix
     - NT 4.0 DHCP Bug Fix
     - New Win2K Memory Leak Diagnostics

5. NEW AND IMPROVED
     - Print Custom Reports from Your Pocket PC
     - Save Storage-Intensive Applications
     - Create Audio CDs or CD-ROMs on CD-R Media
     - Benchmark Your PC's Performance 

6. HOT RELEASES (ADVERTISEMENTS) 
     - Protect Your Windows Data with Galaxy
     - IBM DB2
     - * * * Holistix Remote Monitor * * *
     - NTRama--Your Windows NT/2000 Network Audit Tool

7. PICKS OF THE WEEK
     - Book Highlight: MCSE Windows 2000 Network Infrastructure 
Training Guide (70-216)
     - Hot Thread: Domain Controller Replication Problems
     - Tip: Changing a System Datasource Using ODBC
     - User Group: Rocky Mountain SQL Server User Group

~~~~ SPONSOR: PREVIO ~~~~
When you move at the speed of eBusiness, you need a whole new breed of 
support. Previo, the industry's first intelligent eSupport solution 
which returns inoperable systems to a working condition instantly. For 
a free Hurwitz white paper, please visit us at
http://www.previo.com/win2000update

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want to sponsor Windows 2000 Magazine UPDATE? Contact Jim Langone 
(Western Advertising Sales Manager) at 800-593-8268 or 
jim at win2000mag.com, OR Tanya T. TateWik (Eastern and International 
Advertising Sales Manager) at 877-217-1823 or ttatewik at win2000mag.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. ========== COMMENTARY ==========

Hi all,

I seem to be a magnet for controversy, and my recent trip to Israel led 
me into yet another Nixonian Web of deception involving our favorite 
software company in Redmond. Not that I'm comparable to Watergate's 
Woodward or Bernstein--I'm more of a Berke Breathed, really--but I seem 
to find my share of secretive informants nonetheless. So even my 
otherwise unrelated trip to Israel turned up an interesting nugget of 
information: Microsoft, working with an Israeli company called 
Mainsoft, is attempting to port its Office applications to various 
versions of UNIX, including, I was told, Linux. While in Israel, I 
spoke with software developers in and near Mainsoft, took some notes, 
came home, and promptly forgot about it for a few days. As I said, I'm 
no Woodward or Bernstein.
   To be perfectly honest, Mainsoft had never previously entered my 
consciousness, although I've discovered that I briefly mentioned them 
in a WinInfo Daily UPDATE article more than a year ago. When I unpacked 
after the trip, I set my notes aside and got back to work. The Mainsoft 
story might have actually withered on the vine, so to speak, had not a 
traveling companion called and asked me to fax copies of the notes I 
took during the trip. So I broke out the notebook, found the Mainsoft 
interview notes, and realized I had some unfinished business.
   When I went to the Mainsoft Web site, I was rather amazed to see 
that the company corroborated many of the factoids I had uncovered in 
the interview. Mainsoft did indeed have access to the Windows 2000 and 
Windows NT source code, and the company has been involved in porting 
Microsoft's Win32 applications to UNIX for several years. In fact, 
Mainsoft ported Distributed COM (DCOM) to UNIX, and the company has 
been working on porting various versions of Internet Explorer (IE) to 
various versions of UNIX. Mainsoft had just announced successful ports 
of IE and Windows Media Player.
   News is an interesting thing. I'm not usually the source of news per 
se, but in this case, I knew from the beginning that I had to be sure 
about what I said, especially because I had been burned by a Win2K-on-
Alpha story earlier this year. But I was sure: I talked to three people 
in Israel who were either familiar with or literally involved in the 
efforts to port Microsoft Office to UNIX. So the story went out (see 
Hot Off the Press below), and although I knew Microsoft would probably 
deny it, I know in my heart of hearts that the work is happening. 
Whether that work sees the light of day is another matter. But 
Microsoft denied working on C# (originally known as Project COOL) for 
more than a year, and then released its Java-killer with nary a pause 
earlier this summer. It's amazing what time can do to memory.
   The response to my story was rather interesting, and I learned a lot 
about people and Internet-era journalism in the process. I'm amazed at 
how many people wrote stories in response to mine without contacting me 
first. And some pretty high-profile journalists--such as the lead 
technical correspondent from the Boston Globe--particularly distressed 
me. They basically wrote dismissive "it's not happening, enough said" 
articles without exploring what was behind my story in the first place. 
If we relied on Microsoft for all our news, things would be pretty one-
sided. Thankfully, journalists such as Bob Trott (InfoWorld) and Joe 
Wilcox (CNET) took the time to correspond and were able to dig up even 
more information before the Redmondian clamps came down.
   Microsoft wasn't so happy with me or, as it turns out, with Mainsoft 
(which changed its tune dramatically after a little talk with Redmond). 
In fact, Microsoft demanded that I retract the story, which I didn't 
do, although the company told at least one major computer news agency 
that I had. You see, I don't know any Microsoft spokespeople 
personally, but I did get to know the guys in Israel. If I have to pick 
sides, I'm sorry, but I'll go with what I know. I can't tell you that 
the port is going to produce actual products. But I can tell you that 
Microsoft is looking into it. No, I don't think it's smart. No, it's 
not what I'd do. But yes, I believe it's true. So why would Microsoft 
try to port its desktop applications to a platform that has absolutely 
no desktop market share? I've no idea. But you just can't make up 
something this strange.

Paul Thurrott
Windows 2000 Magazine UPDATE News Editor
thurrott at win2000mag.com

2. ========== HOT OFF THE PRESS ==========
(contributed by Paul Thurrott, thurrott at win2000mag.com)

* EXCLUSIVE: MICROSOFT WORKING TO PORT APPLICATIONS TO LINUX
The rumors occasionally pop up, but this time they're true: Microsoft 
is working closely with a company called Mainsoft to port its Windows 
applications to open-source OS Linux and, possibly, other UNIX 
versions. The complicated undertaking, a work in progress for more than 
a year, requires mapping native Win32 API calls to Linux equivalents so 
that Windows applications will run normally in that environment. But 
the process is even more complex than it sounds because most Microsoft 
applications--especially those in the Microsoft Office suite--use a 
number of proprietary interfaces, and each application requires 
specific workarounds.
   For the rest of the article, go to
http://www.wininformant.com/display.asp?ID=2874

* MAINSOFT ANNOUNCES IE, WMP PORTING EFFORT
After I broke the story about Microsoft contracting with Mainsoft 
to port its Windows applications to Linux, I was bemused to see that 
Mainsoft had recently issued two press releases detailing its other 
Windows-to-UNIX porting projects. Coincidence or not, it's clear that 
Mainsoft is in the thick of Microsoft's efforts to port its most 
important technologies to various UNIX platforms. The company announced 
new contracts with Microsoft to bring its Internet Explorer (IE) and 
Windows Media Player products to UNIX.
   For the rest of the article, go to
http://www.wininformant.com/display.asp?ID=2879

* MICROSOFT DENIES UNIX OFFICE EFFORTS
Microsoft denies that it is working with Mainsoft to port its Microsoft 
Office applications to any UNIX version, including Linux. However, 
earlier this week, a WinInfo Daily UPDATE report based on interviews 
with people intimately familiar with the project said otherwise. As you 
might recall, I traveled to Israel and was able to talk to people in 
and close to Mainsoft. And although Microsoft denies the report, I 
can't post a retraction without explaining the story's background.
   For the rest of the article, go to
http://www.wininformant.com/display.asp?ID=2881





More information about the Discuss mailing list