Microsoft Corp got hot and bothered over what it saw as efforts to portray the outcome of the antitrust case as a foregone conclusion yesterday. The software giant was irked by government references to ‘remedy’ hearings, claiming that such talk pre- supposed the verdict of Judge Jackson. For the government side, lead attorney David Boies said that it was too early to talk about changes to the make-up of Microsoft if the Department of Justice won its case, but noted that the prosecution had made some initial proposals for remedy in its pre-trial deposition. Microsoft spokesperson Mark Murray claimed that any notion of remedy hearings was premature because Microsoft was winning on the legal front. He characterized the government’s efforts as good political theater. If the case goes according to government plans – that is, if the judge finds Microsoft guilty of antitrust violations – remedy hearings could be time-tabled in May or June.