Forwarded From: Jim Laverty <laverty@matrix-one.com>
New York, (Reuters) - In 1991, when a competitor threatened to break
Microsoft Corp.'s lock on desktop software, Microsoft engineers discussed
an unusual counterattack: a software bug to be hidden inside an early
version of Microsoft Windows, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
In a Sept. 30, 1991, message about the plan that referred to members of
his team in the shorthand of electronic mail, David Cole, head of Windows
development, told another executive that "aaronr had some pretty wild
ideas after three or so beers -- earleh has some too." If the bug detected
a rival's program, he further wrote, it would "put competitors on a
treadmill" and "should surely crash at some point shortly later." Cole
also warned that the existence of the bug had to be kept secret, the
Journal reported.
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555754435-3c9
-o-
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Received on Mon Aug 31 09:12:42 1998