Microsoft is a different story. This stock is getting batter over fears of slowing growth and that the company isn't able to branch out beyond the PC to embrace the Internet. Management eased fears over growth during a bullish quarterly earnings call. But you must decide if you think the company's Internet strategy will work. But beware, it's usually the IPOs with the most buzz that end up costing individual investors money as they buy in at the peak of the frenzy.
Fiber optics continues to capture investors' attention, but that's the concern.
Many of these stocks you mention have earned valuations that assume perfect execution, fat profit margins and stellar revenue growth. What you need to do is not look at the per share price, but look at the market cap. Then, put each stock's market value, growth rates side by side to see which ones appear to be valued most richly. What do you think about WebMethod and compare it with Ariba. They're actually somewhat similar.