A surprise decision by Microsoft to cull its list of witnesses has the non-settling scrambling this week, and though the states had hoped to introduce new evidence proving that the company's proposed settlement with the federal government is ineffective, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has indicated that she will not allow it.
However, Microsoft lawyers complained that it was too late for the states to introduce new evidence. "We are in our case, [and] they have rested their case," Microsoft attorney John Warden told Kollar-Kotelly. "That is not what conduct of a trial is in our system, that a plaintiff presents a moving target to a defendant." Kollar-Kotelly indicated that she agreed with Microsoft, but hasn't yet made a final decision in the matter. "You generally admit [evidence] during your part of the case," the judge told Gutmann. "I want to be very careful about this. I'm not going to do it off the top of my head."
According to Web analysis firm OneStat.com, Microsoft's Internet Explorer is, by far, the dominant Web browser, with over 95 percent of the market. But perhaps more astonishingly, OneStat.com says that the recently introduced IE 6.0 is the most often used browser on the Web, with almost 45 percent of all Web surfers using this version.
- Microsoft IE 6.0 (44.7%)
- Microsoft IE 5.5 (25.6%)
- Microsoft 5.0 (25.0%)
- Netscape Navigator 4.0 (1.6%)
- Microsoft 4.0 (1.3%)
- Netscape Navigator 3.0 (0.5%)
- Opera 6.0 (0.4%)
A Delaware judge ruled Tuesday that Hewlett-Packard's shareholder vote was legal, paving the way for the company to complete its merger with Compaq Computer. HP CEO Carly Fiorina has said that the company hopes to launch the combined company May 7. However, she must wait for a recount and challenge of the preliminary shareholder tally, which showed HP winning by a 45 million vote margin out of some 1.6 billion cast--a difference of only about 3 percent of the votes cast.
Nine states seeking tough antitrust sanctions against Microsoft Corp. told a federal judge on Tuesday they have more evidence that a proposed settlement of the landmark case is already hurting computer makers. However, it's unclear whether U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly will allow the complaints of manufacturers to be admitted into the case. Microsoft attorney John Warden immediately objected, saying the states had no right to the material if there was to be no cross examination of Fade. Admitting the documents would be "improper and highly prejudicial to Microsoft," Warden said.
Microsoft Vice President Robert Short took the stand in his company's remedy hearings Monday, deflecting charges that the software giant deliberately designed Windows to be incompatible with software made by its competitors. Short, the fourth Microsoft executive to testify since Bill Gates' media friendly visit last week, said that complaints about interoperability from companies such as Novell, Sun, and Red Hat were unfounded.
"I emphatically disagree with the suggestion that Microsoft deliberately introduces incompatibilities to prevent our competitors' software from working with our products," Short noted during his testimony. He then listed a number of cooperative software interoperability projects that Microsoft undertook with its rivals. "Given these efforts, the notion that Microsoft 'retaliates' against software developers who do not do what Microsoft wants is completely unfounded."
In yesterday's WinInfo Daily UPDATE article, "Next-Gen Windows Rumors Heat Up," I discussed a report from "Microsoft Windows XP - The Official Magazine," which describes Windows XP Service Pack (SP1), and a purported follow-up release called Windows XP Second Edition (SE). This is the second publication to publish information about an XP SE release since I speculated that such a product was possible, back in January. However, Microsoft says XP SE isn't on the schedule. "There are no plans for Windows XP Second Edition," a Microsoft representative told me Monday.
Navision confirmed on Tuesday it was in discussions to sell the company, after reports that U.S. giant Microsoft was set to pay $1.2 billion for the Danish enterprise software firm. Microsoft in Europe declined to comment on the talks. The Financial Times reported in its Tuesday edition that discussions were in their final stages and an announcement was expected next week. Navision, which is 56.5 percent owned by its five founders, is already a key partner for Microsoft. It is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of software that helps medium-sized businesses run their operations and finances.
Microsoft Corp. told a federal judge on Monday it will not call nearly half of its remaining defense witnesses, citing "progress made so far" in defending itself from severe antitrust sanctions. Attorneys for Microsoft told U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that eight of the 17 witnesses remaining on its list would not take the stand, including four Microsoft executives, company spokesman Jim Desler said.
"After reviewing the progress made so far in our case, as well as assessing the states' witnesses and what we believe are shortcomings in the states' case, Microsoft has decided we will not call several individuals who were originally on our witness list," Desler said.
A Microsoft Corp. executive on Monday denied charges that the company tries to gain advantage by making Windows operating system incompatible with rivals' software. Microsoft Vice President Robert Short, the fourth Microsoft executive to testify in the landmark antitrust trial, said the software giant makes "significant efforts" to make its operating system work well with its competitors' software.
"I emphatically disagree with the suggestion that Microsoft deliberately introduces incompatibilities to prevent our competitors' software from working with our products," Short said in written testimony.
An executive from Qwest Communications International defended Microsoft Corp. on Monday, telling a federal judge that the software giant would not be able to thwart emerging competition in the Internet services business using its monopoly power. Qwest vice president Gregg Sutherland, testifying in the Microsoft antitrust case, disputed earlier testimony from a representative of SBC Communications Inc. that without the strict antitrust sanctions that nine states are proposing, Microsoft could crush SBC's planned Internet-based messaging service.