BANGALORE, FEB 19Bill was here opening the Gates to Windows 2000 on a giant video screen.Hello India, he screamed gold-hued hair and all, as the background rockriffs-filled score kept time. The future of business internet is here, hegushed just after Chief Minister S M Krishna became the first Indian to geta copy of this much-touted business operating system that is supposed totake the wind out of the sails of Soralis and Linux. So one Naidu got left out, though the men in black _ Microsoft Indiabigwigs _ MD Sanjay Mirchandani and president Rajiv Nair _ wouldn't be drawninto any comparison with neighbouring Andhra. But the truth is, Bill or noBill, Clinton that is, Bangalore won on Friday. And the Chief Minister saidso. ``The fact that Microsoft chose Bangalore is acknowledgement enough thatBangalore is the IT capital of India and Asia,'' he said as he elaborated onhow Karnataka is going all-out to be the ultimate destination for those withideas and computers. Single-window-clearance, good infrastructure support,efficient work force.he's said it all before. For Bangalore, Friday was a busy day with hundreds of IT wizkids throngingthe Kanteerva Stadium _ looking quite the poorer cousin of the MillenniumDome what with all the multi-coloured Microsoft banners _ for an on-line,on-hand feel of the software with 50 workstations and four servers. ``Goodfor servers, but on 64mb PCs it crawls,'' said one who knows, while foranother it was simply ``cool'' as he smacked the enter key joyously.Alongside were stalls set up by industry majors such as APC, Aptech,Infosys, Satyam, Wipro all of whom have invested in Windows 2000 bypartnering with Microsoft to provide solutions, services, and customersupport. Windows 2000, is said to be the ``ideal platform for doing business on theinternet''. Microsoft has already provided training on it to over 1,000Indian customers, and in addition, over 600 have previewed the product andearly adopters include Infosys, NIIT, IOCL and the Department of Posts. OneMicrosoft bigwig even spoke of how they were keen on e-governance picking upnot only in the urban areas, but also at the panchayat and village levels. Agood thought indeed. Of course we'd need a few computers and power for suchan initiative to kick off. Just don't ask how and where we'll get them.
