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Microsoft apps ‘bloatware’ – official

Beast of Redmond VP reveals all in court-released evidence

Documents released by the court show that Paul Maritz, Microsoft group VP, wrote in an email to Bill Gates on 17 April 1995 which said that "Steve McGeady [the Intel VP currently being cross-examined in the court] remains an issue for us.

He is a champion of Java, and a believer that the day of 'Bloatware' (ie. our apps) is over, and Intel needs to be supporting this new paradigm of 'applets'. He has been behind the work to optimize the Java VM and wrap DirectX as Java classes, etc. [Frank] Gill told me in previous meeting that McGeady is [to] be seconded to MIT and taken out of line management, but this doesn't seem to have happened."

Java was a very sore point with Maritz, who emailed Gates that Intel sees "Sun/Java as their big issue since Sun is not only trying to hijack the OS but the chip as well. I explained our strategy of 'optimizing' Java for ActiveX and Windows, and how we should be working together on this, but I fear that McGeady will try to obviate this (unfortunately he has more IQ than most there)".

It was interesting that Maritz put 'optimizing' in quotation marks: it was clear that this was a Microsoft euphemism -- perhaps for 'polluting', if the material from the Sun case is anything to go by. Maritz also added in the same email that "we need Intel to realize that ActiveX is best antidote to Sun/Java, and that if we respond to root issue and manage OEMs right way, we can obviate the Internet terminal becoming threat to the PC".

Maritz also revealed in the email that Microsoft decided to pretend that its cost-of-ownership "jihad" was to be "positioned as a industry initiative", rather than a Microsoft initiative. The real issue was that Microsoft did not trust Intel. It was also minuted that "Microsoft will 'prevent others from having to write [device software]'." It looked as though Microsoft's intention was to control the writing of all drivers, in order to increase its hold over device manufacturers.

What could be next: Microsoft demanding large fees for writing this software?

Intel did not have a high regard for Brad Silverberg, the Microsoft VP who is apparently on a very long leave of absence. He was "incredibly arrogant... dangerous", "enormous NIH [Not Invented Here syndrome], "extremely hostile", "the guy hates us", "pent-up anger", "impossible to deal with him".

On the other hand, Maritz was "rational, pragmatic... focused on a merge strategy". Another document just released gives notes by McGeady of an Intel Architecture Lab staff meeting on 10 May 1995. It gives Intel's view of Microsoft.

Ron Whittier noted that the area of conflict at the "particularly significant" Microsoft meeting was clearly the interface between systems software and the hardware.

Maritz gave Intel an Internet overview on 11 September 1995. Handwritten notes were taken by McGeady, who records Maritz as saying: "We [Microsoft] are threatened by the Internet." The approach was "embrace ["clone unashamedly", McGeady notes in what appears to be his own thought], extend, change [the nature of the Internet experience]".

So far as the client was concerned, Maritz evidently said that Microsoft would "clone everything of importance", "keep the browser a commodity", there was "no loyalty in users, they'll flip browsers", "Netscape is nothing but proprietary extensions", and McGeady notes that "Microsoft will copy".

An ominous note was that Microsoft would "kill HTML by extending it". So much for Microsoft's support of Web standards. Maritz was reported as saying that in the platform battle, "[Microsoft] will fight with both spps and systems arms", and that in the Internet battle, Microsoft will fight "with Microsoft content". In discussing Sun, Maritz said that "decent development environments (like Visual Basic) needed".

Maritz did observe: "Can't deny Java," and that Intel and Microsoft "should try to keep a Java component model from getting established." ® Complete Register trial coverage

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