Chatrooms and message boards will probably start buzzing again about Microsoft. This time the gossip won't be about Mister Softee missing estimates; rather cyberyentas will chatter about a hush-hush presentation given by Bill Gates in Redmond, Wash., on March 19. Microsoft founder and chief architect Gates will present a set of developers' tools for Web services, code-named Hailstorm , according to a Microsoft employee who asked not to be named. In part, the initiative will be aimed at dislodging America Online's position at the top of the instant messaging market. Microsoft's public relations battalion is machine-gunning the press and other company watchers with invitations to the secret "key announcement" that will provide an important peek into the company's future .Net strategy that focuses on delivering applications through the Web.
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