Comdex Transitions From the Era of the PC to the Age of Dot Com

CHICAGO, April 22 /Ziff-Davis' COMDEX/Spring and WINDOWS WORLD '99 event hosted a wild week of platform battles and a new dedication to Internet-centric computing. The show ended today after four days of exhibits, conferences and keynotes at McCormick Place in Chicago.

Bill Gates opened this year's event with a flawless preview of Windows 2000, demonstrated by the same technician, Chris Capossela, who was demonstrating the "plug and play" capabilities of Windows 98 when it crashed during last year's keynote. The world preview of Windows 2000 included a glimpse at the new simplicity the software will offer, including the ability to Internet-enable any device, install the software easily, and increase bandwidth for more demanding applications. During the keynote, Mr. Gates also introduced a new mouse that uses a digital camera, instead of a tracking ball.

Other big news this year centered on Linux. People poured out into the hallway as attendees crowded into Linus Torvalds' keynote at the Linux Global Summit on Monday morning. During his presentation, Mr. Torvalds reflected on the operating system's birth and development, wide appeal, and ability to offer users a choice in the market. He also outlined some current Linux offerings for the desktop and predicted the appearance of many more offerings this year.

A snapshot from the first-day, on-site attendee survey at COMDEX/Spring and WINDOWS WORLD, indicated that in the next 12 months, 48% of respondents plan to install Windows 2000 as their network operating system, while 21% plan to install Linux. 93% of respondents support Microsoft's consideration to release the source program code for its NT software, while 68% are "very supportive."

For those unable to attend, COMDEX Online and ZDNet carry extensive online content for COMDEX/Spring and WINDOWS WORLD '99, including copies of the Show Daily publication; Webcasts; new products; a photo gallery; and COMDEX/Radio coverage, presented by PC WEEK and ZDTV Radio. A detailed listing of the Best of COMDEX winners is posted at http://www.bestofcomdex.com.