The Summer Of Our Disconnect

It sure has been difficult this month, in the face of jarring stock market plunges, to notice that the economy continues to grind slowly along. Could this 'disconnect' between the performance of the economy and it's reflection in the value of public companies snowball into even more serious trouble? Maybe. But it could also be the kick that gets things going. A look around the technology landscape, as seen from the ChannelWeb network, at least shows we won't fail due to lack of effort:

Earnings

Here's a good start: profits! Microsoft, Sun, and IBM all announced positive earnings in the last two weeks, although all were cautious going forward. Worldcom's bankrupcy filing certainly wasn't a high note, but critical telecom and internet services will continue as the company reorganizes.

Microsoft Spins Dot Net

CRN's Paula Rooney has been all over Microsoft's analyst meetings and .Net briefings this week, sending in updates several times a day. Check out her reports on the growing .Net framework, Microsoft's channel Investments in .Net, and growing .Net deals for channel partners; Bill Gates on Microsoft's financial challenges, and Steve Ballmer's plans for profits.

Computer Associates Cuts A Deal

After announcing a quarterly loss on Monday, Computer Associates announced Wednesday it had come to an agreement with Ranger Governance, ducking the prospect of a second proxy challenge for seats on Computer Associates board of directors.

The Penguin Roars

Linux is always a hot topic on ChannelWeb, but get Microsoft's Steve Ballmer involved and the sparks really fly. VARBusiness' Rich Cirillo reported last week on how Microsoft is adapting to the upstart operating system, and quoted Ballmer's talk at the Microsoft Fusion conference. The web discussion site slashdot linked to the article, and thousands of readers came over to have a look, bogging down our servers for hours, but leaving dozens of great Talk Back messages in their wake. VARBusiness is at work now on a review of the various Linux flavors that should be out next week. We're getting prepared.

Best of the Week

If you missed these articles, check out our exclusive with Veritas's CEO; an analysis of the end of Scient; a look at the 'brain drain' at Sun Microsystems; and even my roundup of developer tools news at the MacWorld show in New York.