Redmond’s rolling stone is gathering moss at an alarming rate and now Microsoft Corp’s forthcoming Windows 98 operating system is being put under the microscope by prosecutors in eleven US states which have subpoenaed the software giant to provide details of its next upgrade to Windows. The US states – as well as the Department of Justice – claim Microsoft has shut out competition by forcing computer maker to include Internet Explorer in Windows 95. By comparison Windows 98 is completely dependent on the browser metaphor which is plumbed through and through the operating system. Windows 98’s user interface is Internet Explorer; even the help system is written in HTML. In December, representatives from nine attorney general offices met in Chicago to discuss Microsoft’s business practices and the likelihood of pooling state resources to enforce antitrust laws. Meantime, Microsoft won a minor victory late Monday when a federal appeals court granted a motion to suspend the activity of special advisor professor Lawrence Lessig who was named back in December to help US District Judge Thomas Jackson’s assessment of the Department of Justice’s anti-trust case against Microsoft. Lessig had been given until May 31 to recommend findings in the case. Microsoft’s challenge to the special master as well as its appeal against Judge Jackson’s preliminary injunction requiring it to separate browser software from Windows will be heard at the same April 21 hearing. The Department of Justice isn’t challenging Lessig’s suspension.
