Microsoft Corp’s going to let 100,000 home users in the US and Canada kick the tires of a Window 98 beta it will roll out over the next few months. It was supposed to have the beta out before year-end. Microsoft said it sent message to a list of targeted customers inviting them to join the program for $40. Microsoft says Windows 98 loads programs faster than Windows 95, consumes 30% less disk space without compression, includes a browser interface for accessing all parts of the system, plus email and video conferencing software. Microsoft says similar programs will roll out from its other subsidiaries. The Department of Justice is currently investigating Microsoft’s bundling tactics, and has said the company’s insistence that OEMs use Internet Explorer browser with Windows breaks the terms of the company’s 1995 Consent Decree. After requiring Microsoft to remove Internet Explorer the question is how the DoJ’s latest investigation might affect Windows 98, which plumbed through and through with the browser. Even the help system is done in HTML, indicating how much it will reply on a browser. Windows 98 is now not expected in production versions until the middle half of next year. Microsoft has already delayed its introduction after corporate customers balked at the prospect of not being to upgrade to it from Windows 3.x. The Windows 98 3 beta eliminates the problem, allowing 16-bit Windows 3.x users to upgrade directly without a patch.
