Herbold tells MS story in different tones

In an interview with PC Week's John Dodge, Herbold - the personification of Microsoft's softer publicity push - said his company wants to resolve the Department of Justice suit quickly, but it has no plans to free up its technology a la Netscape, or let its guard down.

"We're always paranoid," Herbold said, striking a familiar theme among Microsoft's leaders. Herbold repeated the company line that businesses are lining up to try to topple the dominant position of Microsoft, despite its 90 percent market share of computer operating systems.

Many threats
"There are lots of threats," Herbold said, citing Java, Unix, network computers, and a reinvigorated Apple Computer Inc. even though Microsoft owns a piece of Apple.

Herbold also hinted the government is overstepping its boundaries.

"It's curious now that the government is engaged with Microsoft, it's engaged with Intel, it's engaged with 3M," Herbold said, listing several other companies under antitrust scrutiny. He said the government case could be made if Microsoft is slowing innovation and raising the price of its software - two conditions that he asserts cannot be proven.

He argues the pricing issue based on the increased number of lines of code the consumer gets for the dollar, but then replace "lines of code", a term meaningless to consumers, to features. "You get more features today."

'Curious times'
But instead of accusing the government directly of meddling in technology - as some of his corporate colleagues have done - Herbold said simply: "These are curious times."

Herbold wouldn't discuss the details of any settlement talks with the DOJ or state attorneys general, which have filed suit against the company charging it with anti-competitive practices. Last-minute negotiations broke down with government trustbusters broke down last month, prompting prosecutors to file their long-threatened suits.

"We're doing the preparation we need to do," Herbold said, but he added "from the standpoint of getting this behind us, there's nothing we'd like to do more."

In the meantime, the company is holding briefing sessions to keep employees updated on the legal tangle while the company tries to remain focused on products.

Those products include the much-anticipated Windows NT 5.0, which the company now plans to release early next year. When asked whether Microsoft plans to hurry NT to beat the Year 2000 crunch - when companies are expected to direct more IT resources to millennium bug problems -- Herbold said: "The last thing we want to do is rush that product, so we want to keep those two issues separate."

Herbold said Microsoft has no plans to follow Netscape's lead and free any of its code. Developers have criticized Microsoft for not providing enough information about some products, but Herbold said the company prefers to listen to customers and incorporate their suggestions into its technology.

As for who Windows 98 is and isn't for, Herbold said the message has been clear all along: Windows 98 is for consumers and most business users. For heavy-duty workstation users, Microsoft recommends Windows NT, he said.