Sun to fight MS w/ new workstations [CNN]

Forwarded message:

>    New Unix workstations, lower pricing seen as bulwark against Microsoft
>    NT
>    
>    January 12, 1998: 1:11 p.m. ET
>    
>    Java goes to set-top boxes - Jan. 9, 1998
>    
>    Sun cross-pollinates Intel - Dec. 16, 1998
>    
>    More related sites... PALO ALTO, Calif.(Reuters) - Sun Microsystems
>    Inc. will launch a new line of workstations Tuesday, aiming to
>    challenge its rivals and blunt the spread into markets for
>    high-powered desktop computers used by engineers of PCs using
>    Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT.
>    [INLINE] The new workstations are the result of a two-year effort by
>    Sun to design products that greatly reduce the cost of the computers
>    used by power-hungry engineers, while still providing the blistering
>    performance they demand.
>    [INLINE] "This is really big. We think we can create an alternative to
>    [PCs running] NT," Ed Zander, president of Sun Microsystems Computer
>    Co., the company's largest division, said in an interview with Reuters
>    ahead of the announcement.

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>    More related sites... PALO ALTO, Calif.(Reuters) - Sun Microsystems
>    Inc. will launch a new line of workstations Tuesday, aiming to
>    challenge its rivals and blunt the spread into markets for
>    high-powered desktop computers used by engineers of PCs using
>    Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT.

Hmm...  Considering that you can buy a PC w/ Linux and have a Unix
workstation for less than the cost of a new computer with NT, I wonder
who Sun is really targetting here.

Most of the people buying NT are the same people who bought their last
OS from Microsoft, and don't feel like trying anything new.  Sun's real
problem is that they were charging much more for their computers than
it would cost to put together the parts.  Hence, the drop in demand.

But I suppose 'The evil Microsoft Empire is taking away our customers'
makes for better headlines, even if it is bullshit.