© 1997 j-dom Media. Contact us!Oh dear, Bill. Windows97 "Memphis" has been delayed to 1998. Windows98? Just doesn't sound as good! In a related delay Windows NT 5.0 has also been held back by at least 3 months. Oops.
Memphis is supposed to be self-maintaining, downloading its own bug-fixes etc. I don't think I really want that, though. What if Memphis downloads a patch like the Win95 update and converts my entire file system behind the scenes? I'd be delighted. In fact in the weekly industry paper Computing Dave Philpotts, chair of the Distributed Technologies Management Group said: "Only those building a system dependent on the new features will care." Pretty damning, nobody else will care about those new features then; unless they absolutely depend on it. Memphis is also supposed to be taking the Internet/Desktop integration one step further so could the delays be related to the delays of Internet Explorer 4.0? Most probably. In fact the delays may be as a result of Bill introducing a last minute addition to the development schedule in the form of a security integrity check. A good idea in the light of the recent bad publicity of several security holes in Internet Explorer 3.0
Whatever Memphis finally offers we'll be waiting until next year to see it. In the mean time Netscape will be working hard on their Constellation Win95 desktop replacement while OS/2 Warp 4.0 and Network Computers might start making in-roads into Microsoft's business.
Lets hope, anyway.
By Jeep
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