Microsoft faces mega fine over Internet Explorer

By Richard Morochove

First published October 23, 1997

You can still get Microsoft's Internet Explorer free, but this giveaway may soon cost Microsoft millions of dollars.

Earlier this week, Netscape Communications gained a powerful new ally in its Web browser battle against Microsoft. The U.S. Department of Justice asked a judge to fine Microsoft $1 million a day if it continues to require PC makers to load its Internet Explorer Web browser along with Windows 95 on new computers.

According to the Justice Department, tying Explorer to Windows 95 violates the terms of a two-year-old court order that bars Microsoft from imposing anti-competitive software licensing agreements on computer makers.

Bill Gates says Internet Explorer is an integral part of Windows 95 and any move to divorce the browser from the operating system is like preventing auto makers from adding radios to their cars. Sorry Bill, but your logic is slipping. No single car manufacturer owns 90 per cent of the market. And a radio needn't be installed in a car in order to function, unlike a browser which requires an operating system.

If Internet Explorer really is an integral part of Windows, what's it doing running on the Apple Macintosh? Perhaps Gates now considers Apple as just another outpost in his empire, after his infamous deal with Steve Jobs.

There's more depth to this Justice Department action than apparent on the surface. Word of other Microsoft shenanigans has leaked out of Washington. One report alleges the software giant threatened to revoke Compaq Computer's license to distribute Windows 95 if it displayed Netscape's browser icon on the Windows desktop in place of Internet Explorer.

All this could throw a gorilla-sized monkey wrench into Microsoft's plans to launch Windows 98 next summer. While Explorer and Windows 95 are separate products, they are set to merge in Windows 98 as the Windows desktop will look like the Explorer Webtop.

Since the impending combination of the Internet and desktop computing is a key part of Microsoft's strategy, you can count on the software giant to muster a battalion of lawyers to fight this legal battle.

This legal action could give Netscape the breathing space it needs to promote its new Aurora technology. Due out next year, Aurora will expand the capabilities of Netscape's Communicator to include the control of files on your computer as well as the Web.

Intel makes EPIC bet on next chip

Intel's next chip, code-named Merced will finally merge the gap between two popular processor architectures. Intel plans to include EPIC (Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing) technology which will make this next generation operate more efficiently than today's chips.

First versions of the Merced will run fast, probably at 900 MHz., three times the clock speed of today's fastest Pentium II processor, Intel's current top-of-the line. However, since the parallel processing is theoretically more efficient than today's sequential processing chips, the performance improvement should be even greater than the tripling in clock speed.

Sequential processors issue instructions one at a time. Parallel processors, such as Merced, will perform several tasks simultaneously.

Intel selects code-names of rivers for its processors after rivers while Microsoft prefers cities for its operating systems. Yet it would be more descriptive if Intel named the new chip Las Vegas instead of Merced.

You see Merced works faster by betting on future processing actions using a combination of speculation and prediction. This speculation is an improvement over today's chips that sort things out at a later stage.

Today's chips operate like a poorly organized bank. You walk in and there are no signs to direct you. You want to discuss a loan, so you line up at one of the tellers. When you reach the head of the line, the teller says she handles only cash withdrawals and directs you to line up at another teller who handles loan applications.

Now imagine a greeter in the bank. The greeter directs you to the right teller and can even schedule an appointment for you in advance. Since customers know exactly where to go, that removes a burden from the tellers and allows them to work more efficiently.

Merced's EPIC technology works much like that bank greeter. The compiler organizes the software code so the processor can execute the instructions most efficiently.

Merced will also use 64-bit technology, which offers a bigger data path compared to the 32-bit technology used in the current generation of Intel processors. The wider path means more data in memory can be manipulated by the processor at once.

Intel, the world's largest chip-maker, partnered with Hewlett-Packard in June 1994 to produce this chip. Intel is merging the best of its CISC architecture (Complex Instruction Set Computing) with HP's expertise in RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing).

CISC is used in all of Intel's popular processors, such as the Pentium family. RISC architecture forms the basis for HP's PA-RISC processors used in its workstations. The Power PC chip, used in Apple Macintosh computers and IBM workstations, is also RISC-based.

Intel's tries to ensure upward compatibility in its processors, so it is likely your current software will be able to run on Merced. However, software will need to be re-written to take full advantage of the chip's new parallel processing capabilities.

Details of the processor were announced at the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, California last week. However, don't expect to buy a PC using Merced for some time. Intel expects the processor will be ready for production in 1999, and a follow-up chip that will run even faster should be launched in 2001. CW