Microsoft Sets June 25 As Windows 98 Retail Launch Date

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March 11, 1998 (12:00 AM EST)

Microsoft Sets June 25 As Windows 98 Retail Launch Date

At its retail summit next week, Microsoft will finally disclose the June 25 delivery date for Windows 98, sources said this week.

The operating system upgrade, which offers an integrated Internet Explorer as well as universal serial bus support, will be released to manufacturing May 15. They said retailers can officially begin selling the new box June 25. "That's the safe advertising date," one retail executive said.

Microsoft officials would not comment, except to say details of the Win 98 rollout will be announced at a company-sponsored retail summit in San Francisco early next week.

In anticipation of that gathering, Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft announced this week that Microsoft Plus 98, the consumer companion to Win 98, has moved into beta testing and "will ship in the second quarter simultaneous with Windows 98."

While Microsoft is intent on shipping Win 98 before the end of the quarter and its own fiscal year on June 30, there are still concerns and speculations about possible interference by the U.S. Justice Department, which is investigating, among other things, Microsoft's integration of IE with Win 98.

A source close to the Justice Department said the department and attorneys general from 11 states are actively pursuing legal action against Microsoft, which could affect the release of Win 98.

"We're still investigating, but it would be wiser to do something before Windows 98 comes out," said the source. He added, however, that the department is still unsure whether to base its charge on the Sherman Anti-Trust Act or Microsoft's 1995 consent decree with the government, and that no decision has been made.