MICROSOFT'S DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
If, in real estate the key to success is "location, location, location" then in any consumer-oriented business, the priority is "distribution, distribution, distribution." There is no sense having a product that satisfies consumer demand, if that product is not readily available.
Microsoft, burdened as it is by government claims of monopoly practices, still has marketing and distribution strength that makes its products, such as Windows 2000, available in a number of ways so that the ultimate consumer can take advantage of its advantages.
This is an overview of how Microsoft's Windows 2000 reaches the public. First of all, Microsoft has agreements with various Original Equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to put Windows 2000 into its computer products. Among these manufacturers are "Amdahl, Bull, Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens Computers, Hitachi, Hewlett-Packard, ICL, NEC, Stratus, (and) Unisys" (Microsoft homepage 1).
Many of these computer manufacturers have options: they can install Windows 2000 in their computers and then price them accordingly when they are sold through re-sellers (Dell, for one, does a lot of its selling on the Internet). They can also provide Microsoft 2000 software, and ship it to their re-sellers as a customer option. Either way, factory-installed, or sold as a customer option at the point of sale, both manufacturer and retailer (re-seller) have an opportunity to earn a profit from its installation or the disk sale.
Windows 2000 is also sold by Microsoft on its various web sites. There is a web site (Windows 2000 homepage.com) which makes a purchase easy: "Here is a quick path to the vendors and partners that can help you get started with the Windows 2000 Server Family." There then follows a list which, with a simple mouse click, can access the specific applications desired. For example: "Get Windows 2000 Server on a new...