Just the other day, I spoke to another one on the phone. You know what I'm talking about. He said, with a defensive posture, "Oh, you're using Microsoft's Internet Explorer, that's the problem, you need to use Netscape."

Earlier this year I wrote a column about the perils of e-mail and the frustration we all go through using what appear to be incompatible e-mail systems. And, to set the record straight, I said to make life easier for all of us, we should all adopt Microsoft's Outlook as our communications tool so that we, the ProAV industry, could avoid the incompatibilities of communicating between each other before we got too big to turn back.

So, I'm a Microsoft fan.

But, certainly not to the extent of the anti-Microsoft Militia out there that pepper our own internal Information Systems and Information Technology departments.

What do these people think they are going to do? Single-handedly put Microsoft out of business by making their company suffer through arduous alternate (non-Microsoft) products. Who doesn't use WORD? Who doesn't use PowerPoint? Well, I once worked for a company where we used Novell as a network, Novell as an e-mail provider and assorted other 3rd party (non-Microsoft) applications. And, can you believe that one of these anti-Microsoft Militia out there actually told me that all my computer's problems were with the only Microsoft-branded product on my laptop - PowerPoint. I'm sorry, but PowerPoint happens to be one of the only programs that doesn't seem to have every caused a "crash" on my laptop.

Again, do these people really expect me to believe that? Do you?

OK, I will concede that I have seen the light. I have personally used Red Hat's version of Linux and I must admit, Microsoft has a real strong contender out there but I refuse to believe that I must gather at night in geek infested clubs, plot my anti-Microsoft strategy and then spend every waking hour avoiding Microsoft products or strategies to keep my computer from crashing.

I'd rather deal with a crash or two every now and again.

Again, what do these people expect to accomplish?

Have no idea what I'm talking about, then listen carefully. They're out there. They're plotting strategy, listening for that opening (i.e. computer crashing, Fatal Error command, or locked up PCs) and ready to make an "off-hand" remark about how that one Microsoft application with millions of lines of code created havoc on my computer and is the reason we all work so inefficiently.

I don't buy it. I think it's because of all those gross e-mail JPGs I get from all my "friends' who have nothing better to do than send out e-mail jokes, images and virus warnings to their entire e-mail address book.

By the way, Sony recently switched from Lotus ccMail to Outlook. Congratulations and welcome to almost trouble-free e-mail!

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Gary Kayye, CTS is Principal of Kayye Consulting an industry consulting firm specializing in providing marketing, business development and training consulting for ProAV dealers and manufacturers. He, and his partner Jody Thomas,have developed a business plan that is effectively a "Blueprint" Guide to building a Systems Integration company from scratch or by converting a projector reseller to a Systems Integrator. The Blueprint Business Plan is over 100 pages long and even includes sample systems projects. It's expensive, but worth the investment. He may be reached at his web site at www.kayye.com or via e-mail at gkayye@kayye.com.

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