REDMOND, Wash. Microsoft Corp. is expected to unveil as early asthis week a sweeping endorsement of its instant-messaging servicefrom several of its global partners as it battles America OnlineInc., analysts said.
Internet service providers such as AT&T Corp. and TelewestCommunications PLC, personal-computermakers including Dell ComputerCorp., and online hubs such as Yahoo! Inc. likely will throw supportbehind Microsoft, said Rob Enderle, senior analyst with GigaInformation Group. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is probablyinvolved in talks and may make the announcement because of instantmessaging's strategic importance, Enderle said.
The world's biggest softwaremaker is battling AOL, the No. 1online service provider, for dominance of instant messaging, or real-time e-mail, because of its huge potential in paging technology andelectronic commerce. The rivals are trying to build critical massfor their respective services after failing to resolve differencesover the linkage of them.
"This is the future of person-to-person messaging," Enderle said."It's changing the way a lot of people communicate."
Instant messaging alerts users that friends are online and letsthem chat with each other in real time over the Internet. Iteventually could replace pagers with handheld computers and digitalcell phones.
Microsoft is seeking to enlist support from partners such as AT&T,in which Microsoft invested $5 billion, and Telewest, which is 30percent owned by the software powerhouse. Yahoo, Excite At HomeInc. and Prodigy Communications Corp. joined Microsoft in sending aletter to AOL urging it to open up its service to Microsoft.
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