A recent report claims that Take-Two Interactive's versatile lineup of products may be enough for Microsoft to consider a buyout of the company.
Following the release of its Xbox console, Microsoft may be aggressively pursuing a variety of acqusitions in bringing more exclusive content to its console. According to a report in Business Week, which cites analysts' observations, Microsoft may be particularly interested in acquiring New York-based publisher Take-Two Interactive. Officially, Take-Two Interactive could not comment, saying that the merger talks are only rumors at this point. When asked about a possible buyout, Paul Eibeler, president of Take-Two Interactive, declined to discuss any specific mergers, but did say that consolidation in the industry remains a possibility.
Analysts feel that Take-Two Interactive's strong lineup of products, including Max Payne, the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever, and Grand Theft Auto III for the Sony PlayStation 2, makes the company particularly attractive to Microsoft--especially given its stock is undervalued and trading at about $14.
News source: Gamespot
Following the release of its Xbox console, Microsoft may be aggressively pursuing a variety of acqusitions in bringing more exclusive content to its console. According to a report in Business Week, which cites analysts' observations, Microsoft may be particularly interested in acquiring New York-based publisher Take-Two Interactive. Officially, Take-Two Interactive could not comment, saying that the merger talks are only rumors at this point. When asked about a possible buyout, Paul Eibeler, president of Take-Two Interactive, declined to discuss any specific mergers, but did say that consolidation in the industry remains a possibility.
Analysts feel that Take-Two Interactive's strong lineup of products, including Max Payne, the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever, and Grand Theft Auto III for the Sony PlayStation 2, makes the company particularly attractive to Microsoft--especially given its stock is undervalued and trading at about $14.
News source: Gamespot
Volume licensees will still be able to buy extra NT Server 4.0 licenses, by "downgrading" from Windows 2000. To do this, companies have to buy a Windows 2000 license for every NT 4.0 licence they want; Microsoft says they can later upgrade to Windows 2000 at no extra cost.
But some companies are loathe to lose their Windows Server NT 4.0 operating system, having invested a great deal of time and effort building operations around it. Even though the product is now five years old, its retirement is not universally popular.
Chris Ogg, President of Canadian consultancy Wireless Island, said a lot of companies he deals with seem to be refusing to retire Windows NT 4.0. "I did so with much regret around August, but so many companies have invested years in getting it just right," he said. "We have one client who is running software which requires Windows NT 4.0.Wwe had to buy Windows 2000 licences then install NT 4.0." Ogg said that the situation is less than ideal.
As sales of Windows NT Server 4.0 are restricted, support will also be gradually downgraded. From 1 January 2003, Microsoft will start charging for hot fixes. Hot fixes will be discontinued altogether 12 months later on 1 January 2004, at which time pay-per-incident and Premier support will also be axed. Online support is due to be stopped on 1 January 2005.
Microsoft caused something of a storm among certified engineers when it originally announced the retirement of Windows NT Server 4.0: the company said engineers would lose their MCSE titles gained under the Windows NT 4.0 track. Following intense lobbying from customers, Microsoft said it would change the certification title to include versions, so that engineers will now be designated as MCSE on Windows NT 4.0, or MCSE on Windows 2000.
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