Jim Nelson
22 June 1997

You might have missed something if you weren't looking close enough. The above ad was distributed by Microsoft earlier this month to popular web sites across the Internet. The GIF animation doesn't cycle, so you only get one chance to see the "hidden message". Click "Reload" or "Refresh" on your browser for another try.

If you missed it, watch for this part of the image on the third frame:

Microsoft has locked it's sights on the UNIX server market and the biggest elephant in view is Sun Microsystems. "SUN" melds into "UNIX". "SUN" is spelled with a dollar sign.

I sincerely doubt this is accidental. Microsoft has spent big dinero to convince developers and information officers that Windows NT is a real operating system now, one worthy to replace all that "legacy" UNIX stuff. Microsoft even held a "Scalability Day" to prove Windows NT could handle over a million transactions in one twenty-four hour period. Interestingly, the real surprise discussed among developers was that the system didn't crash during the demonstration.

No one argues that Sun's solutions are pricey. But the whole ad reeks of Fifties movie theatre tactics. Coincidence? Maybe. I'm going to get a coke and some popcorn while you're thinking it over.