USA Today
01/26/99- Updated 08:15 PM ET

   PC crashes during Windows 98 demo

   CHICAGO - The computer gremlins went after the big
   enchilada Monday: Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.

   Gates, the featured speaker at the opening of the Comdex
   Spring Computer Show, was demonstrating the new Windows
   98 operating system set to debut in June when the system
   crashed.

   ''I guess we still have some bugs to work out,'' he
   noted ruefully. ''That must be why we're not shipping
   Windows 98 yet.''

   The system collapsed when a Microsoft employee attempted
   to plug in a scanner. Gates was forced to move to
   another computer to complete his demonstration.

   Gates did not comment during his hour-long speech about
   Tuesday's scheduled U.S. appeals court hearing in
   Washington on the Justice Department's antitrust case
   against Microsoft.

   The government sued Microsoft last year, alleging that
   it uses its dominance with the Windows 95 operating
   system to unfairly gain market share for its Internet
   Explorer Web browser over competitor Netscape
   Communications Corp.'s Navigator browser.

   Antitrust laws forbid companies from tying two products
   together to force a customer to take one when buying the
   other. Microsoft contends this rule shouldn't apply
   because its operating system and its browser are a
   single product.

   Windows 98 will create an even tighter bond between
   operating system and browser, making it even more
   difficult for competitors.

   During his convention speech, Gates demonstrated how the
   Windows operating system makes it easier for private
   consumers and businesses to use their computers.

   He mentioned advances in the industry that allow
   computers to move faster and use a variety of external
   devices, for which the Windows system is key.

   ''Providing Windows is the platform for all of these
   advances to build on,'' he said.

   He said Windows 98 will be far simpler to use than the
   popular Windows 95 version, which has 150 million copies
   in use.

   By The Associated Press

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   Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
   This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten
   or redistributed.
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