Technology Review Casts Critical Eye On Microsoft; Also Reports on the Digital Revolution at the FBI and Case for Mars

Business Wire, Dec 15, 1998

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 1998--In its upcoming Jan./Feb. issue, Technology Review, MIT's Magazine of Innovation, takes the first in-depth look at Microsoft Research, the software giant's in-house research brain trust--"Software's Ultimate Sandbox." Seven years after its founding, Microsoft Research has yet to make any real breakthroughs. Can Microsoft, whose cornerstone products such as DOS, Windows and Internet Explorer spring largely from purchased technology, find a way to innovate from within? One question centers on how the government's antitrust suit against Microsoft might affect the company's research arm -- especially if Microsoft were to lose.

Also in this issue, "Programs to the People" probes the GNOME project, a grass-roots movement of unpaid programmers, motivated not by profit but by the ideal of creating easy-to-use open-source software (OSS) that anyone can download from the Internet free and tinker with at will. Will it undermine Microsoft's control of the computer desktop? The article cites the GNOME project is attracting increased scrutiny from Microsoft.

"This effort, populated by programmers around the world who thrive on giving their work away, may ultimately be the biggest challenge to Microsoft's dominance of the market for computer operating systems," said John Benditt, editor-in-chief, Technology Review. "It's fascinating to us just how diametrically opposed these models of innovation are. Microsoft Research is fueled by billions of dollars, while the open-source software movement is a completely decentralized effort powered by passion."

Challenge to the Microsoft Desktop

The GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) desktop is a mouse-and-window interface that will outdo the various incarnations of Windows. It will be faster, more powerful and less likely to crash. According to the article by Contributing Writer Charles Mann, "GNOME could push the software world into a dramatically different-and better-place."

Why would GNOME succeed where bigger, richer outfits -- Apple, most prominently -- failed? Two reasons: First, GNOME is not starting alone. It is designed to work with the increasing popular Linux operating system. Renown for its speed, reliability and efficiency, Linux runs on as many as 10 million computer systems around the world, ranging from small, highly-specialized networks at Internet service providers and university computer labs to huge enterprises such as Wells Fargo and the U.S. Postal Service.

Digital Revolution at the FBI

In addition to these stories, TR reports on the long overdue automation of the FBI's cumbersome collection of fingerprints. On July 30, 1999, after 10 years of development and decades of false starts, the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), i.e., the mother of all fingerprint repositories, is replacing The Bureau's 277-million-card collection. IAFIS promises to turn around criminal print searches in two hours and civil searches in 24. However, the article cites that it could be obsolete even before it's introduced. TR uncovers that:

- In the first half of 1998, police around the country unwittingly released more than 5,000 fugitives because fingerprints IDs didn't come back in time.

- Today, detectives typically don't dust for prints after burglaries because their states' crime labs are too overloaded to trace them.

The Case for Mars

TR reports on the Mars Society, an increasingly influential group that is advocating for manned exploration of Mars. Part of NASA's original program, the goal of putting humans on Mars was sidelined in favor of the less ambitious, less expensive space shuttle program. Now, the Mars Society -- an eclectic group of NASA scientists, researchers and enthusiasts is campaigning hard to put "the case for Mars" back on NASA's agenda. In "Missionaries to Mars," James Oberg profiles the Mars Society and discusses the pros and cons of its cause.

For full-text of these stories (for press only), or to speak with authors, please contact June Howlett, 781/237-2347, or e-mail: ja_Howlett@compuserve.com. The magazine will be available on newsstands Dec. 29, 1998 and can be read on-line at www.techreview.com.

Technology Review will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year, making it is the oldest technology magazine in the world. Relaunched this year as "MIT's Magazine of Innovation," Technology Review focuses on the latest, most important technological innovations across a wide range of fields, including biotech, nanotech and information technology. Published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology Review now serves a greatly expanded audience, providing information and analysis of leading-edge discoveries and their potential impact on science, business and society.