Peter Kaplan
WASHINGTON: Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates admitted in court on
Wednesday that his company already offers a customizable version of Windows,
despite his insistence it cannot comply with a similar demand by nine states
still suing the software giant.
Under a third day of questioning by an attorney for the states, Gates said a
commercial versions of the operating system, called Windows XP Embedded, allows
customers to choose different software features, including different versions of
its Internet Explorer browser and Windows Media Player.
But Gates said Windows XP Embedded, which is designed for use in specialized
devices like cash registers and automatic teller machines, subsequently would
not work the same way as the home version of Windows.
The demand for a version of Windows that can be customized by computer makers
and rival software companies is a key part of the states' proposed antitrust
sanctions, aimed at leveling the playing field for Microsoft competitors.
Gates has testified that the states' sanctions would fragment the operating
system, cripple Microsoft, harm consumers and hurt the entire computer industry.
He told U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly earlier this week that it
would be impossible to engineer a version of Windows with removable features
because different components, such as Internet Explorer and Media Player, are
"interdependent" on each other.
Windows XP embedded
But that argument came under attack on Wednesday from states attorney Steve
Kuney.
"You can build an operating system that can run on a PC and support
virtually (all) applications that are currently supported by a PC running XP
home (version), correct?" Kuney asked Gates.
"Yes and No," replied Gates, pointing out that the embedded
Windows, once configured, did not allow a customer to load additional software
programs. "You wouldn't be able to go and take an application and install
it and have it run," Gates told the judge.
The nine states still pursuing the case have refused to sign on to a proposed
settlement of the four-year-old case reached between Microsoft and the Justice
Department in November.
The settlement is designed to give computer makers more freedom to feature
rival software on the PCs they sell by, among other things, hiding some Windows
add-on features.
But the hold-out states say stronger measures are necessary to prevent
Microsoft from abusing its Windows monopoly in the future, particularly against
recent computer technologies like handheld devices and interactive television.
Microsoft has previously said the embedded version of Windows XP is not
comparable to other versions of Windows because it is so specialized.
But Kuney argued that the embedded version was comparable, pointing to a
computer screen shot that listed the optional functions available for Windows
Embedded.
"There's no suggestion at this point that this is some sort of modified
or truncated version of Internet Explorer, is there, Mr. Gates?" Kuney
asked. "That's correct," Gates said.
License cited
Kuney also showed the judge a provision in Microsoft's Windows XP Embedded
licensing agreement that specifically bars customers from running it on
"general purpose computing device."
A federal appeals court in June upheld trial court findings that Microsoft
illegally maintained its Windows monopoly in personal computer operating systems
with tactics that included trying to crush Netscape's Internet browser.
The appellate judges rejected breaking up the company and sent the case back
to the lower court to consider appropriate remedies to prevent future antitrust
violations.
The hearings on possible remedies in the case are now in their sixth week and
are expected to go through May. Kollar-Kotelly is also weighing whether to
endorse the settlement proposal.
The nine states still pursuing the case are California, Connecticut, Florida,
Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Utah, West Virginia, plus the District
of Columbia.