I once had a computer science professor who swore that one cardinal rule of software development is, whenever you need a new component, it's almost always cheaper to buy someone else's instead of trying to write your own. And he may well have been right-- despite any criticisms that have been leveled at Microsoft over the years, we doubt anyone has said that they aren't savvy businessfolk. And MacOS Rumors is saying that Microsoft may be looking to buy Rhapsody or BeOS for Intel.

Why? Well, rumors are spreading that Microsoft is a teensy bit worried about the lifespan of Windows. You've probably heard that Windows 98 doesn't add much to Windows 95, other than making Internet Explorer the OS interface equivalent to our Finder. ("The horror! The horror!") That makes it a less-than-compelling upgrade for many-- and a downgrade for some others. Worse still, with the Department of Justice breathing down their necks about "forcing" users to run Internet Explorer, there's a slim chance that Windows 98, as it stands, will never even get out of the gate. And then what?

So, Microsoft is reportedly hedging their bets by shopping around for potential technology, just in case. Wouldn't it be interesting if Steve's new buddy Bill forked over a bundle of cash for Rhapsody to be the next Windows?

Speaking of the DoJ, on a related note, tomorrow might be another big day in the investigation of Microsoft's alleged anticompetitive practices involving the "forced" installation of MSIE onto all PC's. Tomorrow a panel of Congressional investigators will hold a hearing on software industry competition, which could engender later hearings on Microsoft in particular. Techweb has the story.

Obligatory Microsoft paraphrase: "PC companies that adopted IE 4.0 did so voluntarily--and did so because of the product's customizability and other technical features." And when those PC companies were asked directly? No comment-- "investigators have had a difficult time ... convincing them to go on the record." Sounds like the poor guys are scared of sleeping with the digital fishies. Suppose it's time for a Witness Relocation Program for large PC manufacturers?

While the issue of the government taking on Microsoft is no big news, it's kind of cool to see that this hearing in particular is really intended to "basically educate some of the members here on what this is about." We get the feeling that some of the congressfolk are more than a little in the dark about the internet and e-commerce. The more these people understand this stuff, the better chance we all have of seeing reasonable and useful legislation on these matters. This hearing, which apparently may even feature a "demonstration of a transaction being performed on the Web," could be as eye-opening as that time George Bush first saw a supermarket laser scanner.

Hmm, Webintosh is reporting that on top of all of Power Computing's other worries, their online store has apparently been shut down. Whether this is an indication of further financial difficulties ("Honey, did you remember to pay the e-commerce bill?"), a symptom of a larger organized sabotage campaign, or a pure and utter coincidence still remains to be seen.

We still harbor dark and scary suspicions about a continuing Apple vendetta against Power Computing for the ruckus they kicked up last August at the height of the Clone Wars. But then, we also felt that the season premiere of the X-Files wasn't nearly paranoid enough.