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Microsoft: Start is on track
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May 4, 1998: 8:47 p.m. ET
Company denies reports that Web destination site will be delayed
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Microsoft Corp. Monday denied reports that it is delaying the launch of its Start Web site.
An article published Monday said Microsoft had originally planned to introduce the new home page in late summer or early fall. The report quoted a Microsoft spokeswoman saying Start would not get off the ground until the end of the year.
Ed Graczyk, Microsoft lead product manager, Web Essentials Group, said the company has always targeted year's end as the time frame for introducing Start, though he would not give a specific date.
Microsoft has been working on Start to compete with other Web portals offered by Excite Inc., Lycos Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. A Web portal provides links to content, such as news, sports and entertainment, from third-party providers.
In recent months, those Web portal companies have been expanding their Internet offerings to provide more personalized services and broader directory listings.
Analysts are confident that regardless of when Start is available, Microsoft will be a force in the Web portal market.
"It creates a challenge for some of the people involved, especially considering some of the valuations we're seeing," said Michael Kwantinetz, senior research analyst at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell.
"The visibility of Microsoft's portal site would be something that would get people nervous about paying 30 times the revenue for a competing product."
Right now, of course, Microsoft has bigger fish to fry. The software behemoth has been facing increasing pressure from the Justice Department and several state attorneys general regarding antitrust action.
On Monday, Microsoft sent a letter to about 150 stock analysts, software companies and venture capitalists warning that any delay in Windows 98 would carry "broad, negative consequences" for the entire personal computer industry.
Reports of Start's delay were first covered by Interactive Week.
Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) ended down 1-9/16 to 88-1/16 at Monday's close. 
-- by staff writer John Frederick Moore
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