
DATE: Monday, November 17, 1997             TAG: 9711170027

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Focus 

SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST 

                                            LENGTH:   41 lines

FOCUS: TARGETING MICROSOFT FIVE POWERFUL COMPETITORS HAVE QUIETLY JOINED FORCES IN AN EFFORT TO CHALLENGE MICROSOFT'S DOMINANCE IN THE PC MARKET BY PUSHING AN OPEN, INTERNET-BASED PLATFORM THAT WOULD WORK WITH ANY OPERATING SYSTEM.

Microsoft Corp. is facing an unusual alliance of five powerful companies that are working together on new technology that could topple the software giant from its perch atop the high-tech world.

The five competitors - International Business Machines Corp., Netscape Communications Corp., Novell Corp., Oracle Corp. and Sun Microsystems Corp. - have been driven together by two forces: a cold fear of Microsoft's continued hegemony and a shared vision of a new Internet-based ``platform'' that would be open to all. To plan strategy, executives of the five companies said they and their colleagues have been meeting, sometimes as often as weekly, to share ideas and technology. ILLUSTRATION: AP photo

Bill Gates...

KRT Illustration

For complete copy, see microfilm

[Side Bar]

The Players

Their Goal

Why Now ?

Why an Internet Platform ?

The Technology

For complete copy of this sidebar, see microfilm KEYWORDS: MICROSOFT COMPETITION