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The News of the World The US appeal court's verdict on Microsoft

Thursday 25 June 1998 23:02 BST
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USA Today

Support for the company already seems to be of two minds. A New York Times/CBS News poll reported last week found great admiration for Gates and his company. But most Americans also agree that the Justice Department should continue its Microsoft investigation. The real danger for Microsoft is that admiration for the company's amazing success may turn to disgust over the lengths to which it would go to preserve it. Microsoft this week releases its new Windows 98 OS to the nation's retail shelves -- bundled Internet Explorer and all. It's a commercial victory for the beleaguered company. But it may be a Pyrrhic one.

New York Times

For all the dust kicked up in the legal battle over Microsoft Corporation's right to include Web browsing software in its Windows 95 operating system, a ruling by a US appeals court this week in the software giant's favour is likely to have little impact on the imminent release of Windows 98, a new version that integrates the browser even more tightly. What the dispute has managed to do is to focus attention on a product that has played to widespread yawns in computer industry publications. In recent weeks, even Microsoft has been playing down revenue expectations for Windows 98.

Financial Times

The US Court of Appeal in Washington has dealt a potentially devastating blow to the antitrust case against Microsoft... The ruling highlights the drawbacks of a suit focused closely on the rivalry between Microsoft and its browser rival, Netscape Communications. This exposes the justice department both to judicial hazards and to public scepticism. The case may yet recover from both of these problems. But it will not be easy.

Salon Magazine (Internet)

Even if the Justice Department doesn't appeal this ruling and focuses its efforts on the new suit, the questions asked are not going to disappear. And everyone concerned about how Microsoft uses its extraordinary power in the software marketplace ought to keep asking them. Sure, the government should tread carefully when intervening in the treacherously complex and fast-shifting technology marketplace. Recklessness is inappropriate. But its opposite doesn't serve the public very well, either.

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