'Bring OS and web together' IT bosses tell Gates

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) may want Microsoft to separate its operating system and internet businesses, but IT directors want to see Bill Gates bring the two technologies closer together.

As Gates' launched .Net - formerly known as Next Generation Windows Services - in Washington yesterday, IT directors in the UK said the integration of operating system (OS) and web will help their businesses.

Brendan Major, head of IS at the NSPCC said: "We've taken a policy decision that all new software must be web-enabled." He wants to see all employees using a company intranet from thin clients in the future, so he supports Microsoft's moves to make this happen.

However, Major stressed that the NSPCC - which is currently using Windows NT and 95 - will only use mature technologies and won't consider moving even as far as Windows 2000 "until it has been completely debugged by someone else".

Brian Collins, IS manager at the Royal College of Surgeons, agreed that integration makes good sense. But he too is unlikely to snap up Microsoft's latest technology as soon as it's available for download.

"What I'd like to see from Microsoft is a product that actually works and doesn't require four service packs before it becomes stable," he said.

Ovum analyst, Duncan Chapple, called .Net a defensive move against the DoJ's attempt to break up the company. He said: "This is Microsoft not learning, because instead of slowing down the web integration with Windows, they're expanding it."

Chapple concluded that the hold of Windows is so strong that the company looks invincible. "If they want to change the face of computing, they can do it," he said.