Microsoft Corp’s Bill Gates is not a happy man these days according to a memo to top executives leaked to the San Jose Mercury News. Our nightmare – IBM ‘attacking’ us in system software, Novell ‘defeating’ us in networking and more agile, customer-oriented applications competitors getting their Windows act together – is a reality, he reportedly wrote. Gates also made clear the complete rupture with IBM by saying Our strategy for the ’90s is Windows – one evolving architecture, a couple of implementations. Everything we do should focus on making Windows more successful. He also says that one benefit of effectively leaving OS/2 to IBM is that the company no longer has to accept poor code, poor design and other overhead. But he warns managers not to criticise IBM in public, and says that attacks on IBM’s version of OS/2 should be very professional, adding that he wants a neutral relationship with IBM.
