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by Jeff Vitous
Spring COMDEX '99
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It has been three years since the venerable Softbank – COMDEX / Windows World trade show made its last appearance at Chicago's McCormick Place. In 1996, everyone who was anyone in the personal computing arena was present. The Internet was the major buzz, the question whether a company needed an Internet presence changed from "if" to "when." COMDEX filled the classic East Building, with Windows World occupying the larger North Hall. Fast forward three years. The entire show is contained in the vast South Hall, the other buildings used for seminars, keynotes, and special meetings. Perhaps the larger exhibition space made the crowd seem sparse, but there was a decided lack of excitement this year. Microsoft, showing off their "2000" line of products, had by far the largest presence at the show. Not to be outdone, Novell also made a strong showing, providing a large number of workstations available for surfing the net. Cisco and Computer Associates rounded out the major vendors. Notably absent were the likes of IBM, Compaq, Dell, and Hewlett Packard. Among the more interesting exhibits that garnered a good deal of attention was the Linux pavilion. Aside from the usual flavors of free UNIX operating systems (Red Hat, FreeBSD, and Slackware), a number of software vendors were exhibiting a wide range of applications for this up-and-coming operating system. Eavesdropping on a presentation, I overheard a speaker admitting that Linux support for plug-and-play devices is still spotty at best. It would seem that although it’s becoming more accessible, Linux has a ways to go before leaving the exclusive realm of the "super-geek" and entering the main stream. There was a concerted effort to promote USB products. Many of the vendors seemed to be showing off various forms of hubs, not the big product explosion one might expect. Several exhibitors did have on display some nifty USB Ethernet adapters. Attached through the USB port, they do not take up an ISA or PCI slot, and seem to be easy to install and configure. At about $80 a piece, this convenience is substantially pricier than standard network interface cards. It would have been nice to see them packaged with complete home networking solutions. Perhaps the popularity of such targeted shows as E3 or WINHEC have taken some of the shine off COMDEX. Maybe 1999 is just an aberration, with most IT departments focused on Y2K problems and vendors targeting year 2000 products. Or maybe COMDEX has simply run its course and needs to be reborn or retired. What's Hot: What's Not:
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