The US Justice Department will probably allow Microsoft Corp to ship a version of Windows 98 that includes Internet Explorer, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Citing sources close to the case, the report says that while the government continues to build evidence for a new and more comprehensive antitrust case against Redmond, it may take less of a hard line stance for the moment. The most likely option would be to allow Microsoft to ship Windows 98 with the browser functionality while at the same time requesting that Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson require the company to provide an alternative version without it. The report goes on to say that the DOJ is somewhat reluctant to stop an integrated Windows 98 outright over concerns of interfering with design decisions – something courts have traditionally been reluctant to do. The government has apparently made no concrete decision on its next move yet, however, and even this kind of apparent capitulation to Microsoft would not stop it from launching a new, broader case against the company. Microsoft is set to announce next week that Windows 98 will be available to OEMs on May 15 and for retail sales on June 25, according to Computer Retail Week.
