By now, we’re all sick of hearing the details of the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corporation. We’re tired of hearing about the lawsuits filed by Sun Microsystems, Caldera Software, Bristol Technology, Netscape Communications, and so many others. Still, we have to ask: What has happened to Microsoft? Why has everyone—including the press—turned against it? Is it because it’s such an easy target, or is it because Microsoft has become the epitome of a technological giant running amuck through the marketplace? We’ve got to get a handle on these questions soon because our IT shops are suffering as a result of the confusion.

First of all, I believe Microsoft has only itself to blame for its legal problems. Second, I think a lot of the bad press is the result of Microsoft’s fatal attraction to the limelight. Think about it! Microsoft’s event-driven marketing campaigns for new products have always been designed as media events. These productions deliver a brand of showmanship reminiscent of P. T. Barnum. Under the Microsoft big top, software releases have become gigantic public celebrations in which free software utilities and beta code CDs are passed out like party favors. (Imagine a similar party being thrown for your own latest RPG IV program. What would you use for your party favors—Tums lozenges?)

Of course, in the past these shindigs were designed to foster consumer momentum and to increase the value of Microsoft stock. But imagine how things would be had Microsoft never thrown such parties. Wouldn’t you still be running DOS on your PCs? Perhaps that’s a key to understanding the consternation felt by Microsoft’s competitors: No one is showing up to their parties anymore. Fewer people at the party means fewer stockholders to fund the next diversion. Is it any wonder, then, that the urge to attack Bill Gates is akin to the urges of an angry mob that has turned on its host? Or is it that the party is winding down, and the audience is starting to feel stranded on the NT platform?

In the meantime, this Circus Microsoft has removed a lot of the power that we IT professionals once wielded to help our organizations. How? Today, software companies no longer treat our organizations as customers; we’re merely members of a growing

audience. Gone are the days of real IT business requirements planning. Today the mantra is “load the CD, and let’s see if it works.”

But for those of us in IT, who are seriously trying to improve user productivity, the new role of customer-as-audience participant is nerve-racking. Sure, it’s fun to play with the new Microsoft toys, but how do we make real decisions based on the business needs of the organization? Are we buying productivity tools, or are we buying cotton candy that makes our fingers stick to the NT platform? How many times have we bought one Microsoft product, only to find out that the advertised benefits are leveraged by the embedded features of a second product that we have yet to purchase? Six months later, it’s time for a next release, and the cascade of new purchases begins again.

This dilemma raises the perennial question: Are companies purchasing software as an investment or as entertainment for users and IT personnel? We know what the answer should be. Buying software packages that don’t provide bottom-line nutrition is like driving through McDonald’s for kids’ meals: You won’t spend much, and the toys are fun, but you’ll have a lot of clean-up work at the end of your trip. And there are other investment questions as well. How do you calculate the cost of retraining users when everyone is always in the midst of migrating from one software version to the next? We were once taught that the urge to buy new software products must be tempered by a real cost/benefit analysis, but Circus Microsoft turned that whole process topsy-turvy. Now, we get promises of great theatre and deafening applause if only we’ll buy the next release.

Don’t get me wrong! I love Microsoft products, and I love the productivity that they deliver. I’m just tired of the hype. And until Microsoft gets its big top under control, I’m waiting outside the tent flaps. That’s also why we at MC write about AS/400 solutions that you can use today. We know that you have work to do, and we don’t feel you need to be entertained. We’re happy to let the DOJ sort out the plot of Circus Microsoft while we get the job done. But hey! Want a good laugh? Send in the clowns!