On your mark, get set, compute

SeattleTimes | at | by Mike

There are no checkered flags, no exhaust fumes and no shirtless fans holding cans of Budweiser at the races where Microsoft proves the mettle of its industrial-strength software - only a roomful of humming computers. But the Redmond company and its rivals treat these competitions, called benchmark tests, just as seriously as Ford does stock-car races. "If you're in, you're in to win," said Paul Flessner, the senior vice president in charge of Microsoft's enterprise-server business.

So far, Microsoft has won most of the categories it has entered, helping the company prove that its software is powerful enough to run network servers as well as personal computers. With the prize being a bigger share of the $60 billion server market, Microsoft aims to use benchmarks in the coming year to show that its software can run larger and larger networks - and perhaps win customers from rivals such as Oracle, IBM and Sun Microsystems.