by Arie Slob

Dear Windows-Help.NET Subscriber, OK, so you probably read the news, and know all about this so-called "mega-merger". The "old" media (TW) is merging (read being bought by) the "new" media (AOL). You will find all kinds of reactions & opinions about this deal. My view? It has nothing to do with all the reasons you see mentioned (AOL wanting broadband access is a popular one); it all boils down to just one thing... Money. One of the best articles I could find on the 'Net is this one from Dana Blankenhorn, in which he describes the boardroom decisions leading up to this deal. I think the deal also casts more dark clouds over (AOL's) Netscape's next generation browser. A version 5 browser is already around 6 months behind Microsoft's version 5, and there's still no beta in sight. In fact, just this week, another key developer left Mozilla.org, Netscape's "open source" effort to design a new browser. According to this InternetNews.com report, developer Mike Shaver left Mozilla.org without revealing the reasons for his departure. You can comment on this story on our Message Board More on AOL tech support Following the article we published about problems people are having with AOL's version 5 browser, we received an interesting email from a former AOL technician. From his letter it appears that AOL doesn't really care very much about its customers. A tech has to "finish" with a customer in 7.5 minutes, otherwise face being sacked! Bill Gates steps down as CEO In a surprise move, Bill Gates announced this week that he will be stepping down as Microsoft's CEO. Steve Ballmer will assume the role as CEO, while Bill Gates himself will focus on "technologies for the future" and added the new title of chief software architect. Many believe this to be a preemptive strike at the US government which is seriously considering a breakup of Microsoft. It has been the view of many observers that Bill Gates' ego played a big part in the failure so far to come to a settlement. You can comment on this story on our Message Board Free* Software from our Freebate Center! Downloadable Normal price: $19.98 Our Price: SpeedWiz 4.0 Get the Speed You Need! Internet Optimizer Web Optimizer Disk Optimizer System Optimizer * Free after Rebate - USA only

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