Microsoft and the domination saga

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly appears somewhat naive to think that she can get

Microsoft to agree to the kind of settlement terms that the US government sees

as the absolute minimum required to reign in the company's monopolistic power

abuses.

Settling is not part of the corporate DNA that makes up Microsoft. The

company has had many opportunities to settle the case. But even when driven into

a corner, Microsoft has never budged. It has negotiated on a few occasions, but

only in support of delay tactics, not in pursuit of a settlement.

First Microsoft wanted to get past the November 2000 presidential elections

in hopes of a more business-friendly White House and Justice department. But

after getting slammed in the Appeals Court, Microsoft began stalling to get

Windows XP, its next platform for desktop domination, launched.

The company can be expected to play along with Kollar-Kotelly, enter into the

negotiations only to drag the negotiations out and use them to win the public

over to its side. In the mean time Microsoft will launch Windows XP and by the

time Kollar-Kotelly decides the case and the Appeals Court and Supreme Court

have certified her decision, Windows XP has long since been replaced by

something else.