What’s a Microsoft rival to do now?

By the time the antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. ended with a whimper on Nov. 1, the guys who started it all had long since given up the fight. Marc Andreessen, whose Netscape Communications Corp. was trounced by Microsoft in the Internet browser wars, steers well clear of his former nemesis. Indeed, for his startup, Opsware Inc., he purposely chose a business that Microsoft isn’t yet chasing–server-automation software. "Everybody should compete with Microsoft once in their lifetime," says Andreessen, "so they have stories to tell their grandchildren. And then don’t do it anymore."

It’s hard to fault Andreessen for feeling that way. During the half-decade that Microsoft has been under intense government scrutiny, the Redmond, Wash., behemoth has become more powerful than ever. Now, unconstrained by the court’s slap-on-the-wrist settlement, Microsoft is free to spend its $40 billion cash hoard to enter new markets or acquire companies practically at will. Anybody who was counting on the Feds to rein in Microsoft is flat out of luck. Their only remaining hope is that an antitrust probe by the European Union could take it down a peg.

Click here to read this full article.