Business Notes SOFTWARE

Many people in the computer industry were unhappy last week when shares of Microsoft fell almost 14% in one day. But no one felt the sting more than William Gates, 33, the boyish-looking co-founder and chairman of the software- manufacturing firm. His 38% stake in Microsoft left him nearly $175 million poorer -- on paper. (His shares are still worth $1.1 billion.) Investors dumped the stock after hearing that profits were about to dip because of unanticipated delays in shipping two new versions of Microsoft's word- processing program.

Microsoft is not the only software manufacturer in dutch. Many of its competitors are also having trouble getting their products onto store shelves. These companies are finding that developing successive generations of established software programs is a complicated and time-consuming business. The delays are beginning to irk mainframe- and personal-computer makers, whose powerful new machines cannot be fully used without up-to-date software. Among the more worrisome recent delays: Ashton-Tate's new version of a financial program hit stores three months behind schedule. And Lotus is almost a year late with its long-promised improved 1-2-3 financial spreadsheet.