WinInsider

An attorney for Microsoft Corp. is arguing that the company shouldn't be slapped with a court injunction because of the popularity of Windows. Kevin Murphy, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, testified Wednesday that Microsoft's distribution advantage with Windows is not the key issue in the case brought by Sun Microsystems. "Either in economics or in law, you don't have a right to piggyback on somebody else just because they're successful," said Michael Lacovara, a Microsoft attorney who called Murphy to the stand. Microsoft attorney David Tulchin said Sun was trying to "engineer the marketplace" in seeking the injunction.

Christopher Jones, Microsoft's corporate vice president in charge of Windows client development, testified as to why Microsoft should not have to bundle Sun's Java virtual machine (JVM) with Windows, as Sun is seeking in a preliminary injunction.

Jones gave five primary reasons why doing so could actually harm Microsoft: the order would jeopardize Windows ship dates; it would expose Microsoft to the risk of intellectual property litigation and damage; the order doesn't place bounds on what Sun could put into the JVM-"it could grow without bound," he said; it could impact the quality and security of Windows and Microsoft software; and it represents a support burden and could cost Microsoft.Parthasarathy said that based on the agreement Microsoft is allowed to distribute the JVM as part of a product or successor product to Windows but not as a standalone product.

Microsoft's lawyers on Wednesday pecked away at Sun Microsystems' claim that it needs a judge to level the Web services playing field, suggesting that Sun's actions -- rather than Microsoft's -- have affected Java's ability to compete. During the second day of testimony in the preliminary injunction hearing, Microsoft lawyer Michael Lacovara produced an internal Sun memo from early this year, saying the company needed to make improvements to its own Java Virtual Machine (JVM) in order to compete better with Microsoft's version of the product.

The memo, titled "Java Desktop Client Strategy," recommended Sun improve its JVM's graphics performance, address stability problems and reduce its startup time and footprint to better compete with Microsoft's JVM, which Sun contends is out of date and incompatible with the version of Java being used elsewhere by the industry.

Microsoft on Thursday is expected to issue the second release candidate for Windows .Net Server 2003, as the product slowly advances toward its scheduled April release date. The near-final testing version of the software comes days after Microsoft revised licensing for the product. Starting with Windows .Net Server 2003, customers will have two options for obtaining client-access licenses, or CALs. Under the new plan, businesses will be able to obtain CALs on per user or per machine.

Availability of release candidate 2 marks an important milestone on Microsoft's march to launch .Net Server on schedule. So far, the company has delayed delivery of the product three times. The operating system is a cornerstone of Microsoft's .Net Web services strategy.

Microsoft Thursday made available a new version of its small-business accounting software, which it is aiming at customers who don't require the heft of more extensive business software products that it sells.

Small Business Manager 7.0 is an upgrade to a product first released in November last year. The new release adds features that allow customers to manage inventory and purchase orders, in addition to the existing general ledger features in the previous product, said Karen Engel, lead product manager with Microsoft's Business Solutions division.

Software giant Microsoft said on Wednesday it would pour more resources into its efforts to carve out a position in the $10 billion video game market rather than cutting its losses and exiting from the venture. Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer John Connors, when asked if the world's number one software maker had an "exit strategy" for the year-old Xbox video game machine, said in a Web cast: "The fallback position is probably to double down and make it successful."

Microsoft is expected by analysts to spend more than $2 billion over five years on the Xbox machine, which launched a year ago as part of Microsoft's push to get its technology and software off the desktop and into living rooms worldwide.

Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer John Connors said on Wednesday that the software giant's future growth would be hurt if the rival Linux operating system was to make inroads onto desktop computers. Although Microsoft commands the desktop market with its Windows operating system running on nearly all of the world's personal computers, it is competing neck-to-neck with Linux in the market for servers, which manage computer networks. Connors said Microsoft would stick to its view that PC growth would remain moderate, with growth this year expected to be in the "low single digits."

Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer John Connors said on Wednesday that investor sentiment toward technology stocks should improve as valuations return to "more normal and sane levels." "Psychologically, it's likely to improve more than it has recently," Connors said in a Web cast from the Credit Suisse First Boston annual technology conference in Scottsdale. The conference is closed to media. Although some technology stocks remain overvalued, Connors told attendees at the CSFB conference that investor sentiment should continue to improve.

A federal judge on Wednesday suggested Sun Microsystems drop some demands and go directly to trial on whether to force software giant Microsoft to carry Sun's Java program. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz said Sun, in its private antitrust suit against Microsoft, might want to drop its request for a preliminary injunction on carrying Java and set aside its claim for more than $1 billion in damages. Motz did not elaborate on why he made this suggestion. A lawyer for Sun, Rusty Day, said the company would consider the idea.

"Just when you think you've gotten out, they pull you back in!"
"It isn't over till it's over."
"I'm not going to take it anymore!"

These were just a few of the phrases that came to mind when I heard that Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly is going to appeal the ruling in the ongoing Microsoft soap opera. Now, just to make things a bit more dramatic, Darrell McGraw -- the attorney general of West Virginia -- is reconsidering accepting the decision because he hates to see "Reilly twisting in the wind" and really isn't comfortable with the agreement. I just can't tolerate any more episodes in this nauseating soap opera. Please, enough already!

Just when we thought that this thing was settled and Microsoft and other companies could play in the same sandbox, the states are refusing to settle. Hey, guys, let it rest! The election's over. You've already won (or lost)! It's time to use your states' money to shore up sagging budgets, pay state employees and pump funds back into school systems.