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                    *          DB/C Newsletter          *
                    *             May 1998              *
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                             News and Comments

We had hoped to announce the release of DB/C JX and DB/C FS in this
newsletter, but it now appears that their release will not take place
until next month (June).  Beta testing will continue until the products
are stable and of production quality. 

There is no article this month because we had expected to fill the space
with the announcement of DB/C JX and DB/C FS.

A momentous event happened in our industry on May 18th.  In a broad anti-
trust lawsuit, the US government accused Microsoft of engaging in illegal
monopolistic actions.  Now I'm no fan of Microsoft.  Our experience with
their software is that it is buggy and poorly supported.  From a technical
standpoint, Microsoft does not deserve to be as successful as it is.  But
today it seems that software is more like shaving cream - advertising and
image are primary - the quality of the product itself is secondary.

Regardless of anyone's opinion of Microsoft, we should all be concerned
when the US government wants to dictate product design and packaging.
A primary goal of the lawsuit is to force Microsoft to redesign Windows 98
to remove browser functionality or to force Microsoft to include Netscape
software with Microsoft Windows.  This demand is unprecedented.  Even in
the famous anti-trust case against Standard Oil nearly 100 years ago, the
government didn't try to change the product sold to consumers.  They relied
on restructuring the offending company - not on dictating what was in
gasoline or what had to be given away with it.

Here's an interesting piece of trivia - if you hold stock in Microsoft, you
may profit if the government breaks up Microsoft.  When Standard Oil was
broken apart, the stock value of the separate companies almost immediately
doubled in value - thereby doubling the net worth of John D. Rockefeller.

                                                        don.wills@swc.com


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                            DB/C Class Schedule

   Class:     DB/C Language Fundamentals
   Date:      June 16-18, 1998
   Location:  Oak Brook, Illinois

   For information, contact Judi Tamkevic at:
       voice  630.572.0240
       email  dbc@swc.com


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