COURT NOTES: Microsoft really blew it in court this week, starting off with Senior Vice President James Allchin admitting that running Internet Explorer in Windows 95 is almost the same thing as having Windows 98 upgrade. Then on Tuesday before Allchin resumed his testimony, Microsoft's lawyers played a tape supposedly showing how Windows 98 is slowed down and disabled when Internet Explorer has been removed. Unfortunately for Microsoft and Allchin, government attorney David Boies pointed out to the court that the video had apparently been doctored to show clips from several different computers, some of which were still running IE.
Mr. Allchin admitted that the tape had mistakes, but professed innocence and claimed that one of his employees must have grabbed the wrong video clips. Upon further questioning he also admitted that several of the computers shown in the video were not only running Internet Explorer but also Office 97, further slowing the taped test.
Wednesday Microsoft's lawyers came with with an explaination, saying that Internet Explorer had been removed from the machines in question, but installation of Prodigy internet access software changed a single titlebar to make the operating system _appear_ as if IE was still installed. They also claimed that the video was just a "reenacment" of a lab test, so it shouldn't have counted anyway. Then Allchin retook the stand and changed his story, saying that maybe there was nothing wrong with the tape aterall. After more questioning, Judge Jackson agreed to allow Microsoft to redo the tests in front of impartial witnesses.
On Thursday the redone tape was produced and played before the court, with Allchin himself performing the test. Using two brand new IBM ThinkPads connected to the internet with MSN, the executive showed that Windows is unstable without IE, but he failed to prove that Windows' performance was slowed 200 percent to 300 percent by the removal as he had previously claimed. Microsoft attorneys blamed it on the lack of a consistant internet connection (should have used AOL instead of the Microsoft Network), and said that the second tape was just a "simulation" anyway.
The week ended with Microsoft trying to change the subject and promising to submit yet another version of the tape, but that may be too little too late. By Friday morning legal analysts and technical publications around the globe were declaring Microsoft's case dead and speculating on their eventual appeal strategy.

And on top of the other trial-related troubles, we're hearing that Gateway is mad at Microsoft over it. Sources from inside the computer maufacturer are saying it is none too pleased to learn about trial documents showing Gateway pays more for Windows licenses than Dell and Compaq do. Gateway apparently had a clause in its contract providing some preferential pricing that apparently didn't materialize. Gateway may soon be asking The Behemoth for money back on all those overpriced copies of Windows 95.

According to sources, the latest interim builds of Windows 2000 Microsoft released only run 60 percent of existing applications for Windows NT. While that number is up from around 40 perent in Beta 3 Release Candidate 0 last month, it still falls well below the company's target goals. Microsoft has not released any goals for application compatibility, but for an operating system that's supposed to ship this year anything significantly below 100 percent could be bad news. Sources also say that Microsoft is having trouble getting Plug n' Play and PCMCIA to work on the NT-based operating system. In addition to that, those latest releases of Windows 2000 require a _minimum_ 300 MHZ Pentium II system with 64 megabytes of RAM to run. However, Microsoft still says that operating system development is right on track and the third beta of Windows 2000 will be released in April as planned, with the final product shipping in early fall of this year.
The delays and compatability problems have lead many people to wonder if Microsoft would possibly reuse the Windows 9X kernal in another operating systems, possibly even the consumer version of Windows 2000. Some even speculated that Microsoft will release a Win9X-based Windows 2000 and then release the operating system currently known as Windows 2000 several years later as Windows 2002. Wednesday a Microsoft spokesman confirmed that the Windows 95/98 kernal will be around for a few more years, but only in its current versions and servicepacks. They had no comment on the rumors.

In early January the US Patent and Trademark Office awarded Microsoft the rights to a web technology already in use by other companies. The technology in question, Style Sheets for Publishing Systems, is extremely similar to the cascading style sheet standards used by IE, Communicator, Opera and other browsers. That standard was originally intended to give web developers control over the layout of web pages beyond what HTML allows them to do.
Microsoft promises to allow nearly anymore to license the technology, but many groups - most notably the Web Standards Project - are pushing the patent office to reconsider its decision. That organization is also asking Microsoft to hand its patent over to the World Wide Web Consortium, the group that originally encouraged developers to adopt style sheets. Microsoft says the worry is all for naught because its patent is only to keep other companies from taking control of the standards and adding their own proprietary technolgy to them. That is, of course, Microsoft's job.

On February 2nd Microsoft was hit with a patent infringment suit of its own. The suit filed by Eolas Technologies, a small research and development firm, claims that Microsoft infringed upon its patent concerning embedded Web plug-ins, ActiveX controls and applets. That software is used in most of Microsoft's big money products, including Windows 95, Windows 98 and Internet Explorer. Netscape and Sun also use the technolgy, but Eolas has so far expressed no interest in filing a suit against either of them.

IT departments that have held off on implementing the 4th Service Pack for NT 4 are now being told that their systems won't be ready for the year 2000 without it. Microsoft previously told NT4 users that Service Pack 3 would suffice for the operating system's Y2K compliance. However, many NT users are replying that they would rather risk some problems in 2000 than deal with the infamously difficult bug patch.

But don't depend on Microsoft's web site to get that information. According to a report published by the Internet Tourbus newsletter, the section of microsoft.com where the 'Year 2000 Resource Center CD' can be ordered is inaccessable to people using Netscape Communicator. According to Microsoft the CD contains whitepapers, guides and other information about various products' Y2K readiness. Meanwhile, Netscape's Y2K site is fully accessible with Internet Explorer.

Acccording to the Securities and Exchange Comission, Bill Gates filed a notice several weeks ago to sell some 3.5 million of his 509 million shares of Microsoft stock. The planned sale would bring in an estimated 550 million dollars, depending on the stock's market value. The comission also reports that Gates filed to sell another $1.5 million on February first, which would be an additional $260 million.
But then last Friday Gates announced that he has made the largest private charitable contribution in history, giving away some 3.3 billion dollars in Microsoft stock. Unfortunately, Gates didn't give the money to a legitimate charity, rather choosing to split it between the William H. Gates Foundation that his father manages and the Gates Library Foundation, which is operated by his wife. The two groups support arts, education, world health and internet access in rural areas by giving Microsoft software to people that don't need it.

Microsoft's Paul Maritz is scheduled to attend next week's Wireless '99 CTIA Conference in New Orleans, during which he is expected to announce that Microsoft has teamed up with a major European telecommunications carrier to provide wireless internet access over cellular phones.
Microsoft has announced that it will begin licensing several of its products over the internet. Office 97, Office 98, Windows and other applications will now be made avilable through several internet licensing groups in a strategy Microsoft says will make them more accessable to small businesses.

_{Sunk by Windows NT
Is MS Preening in Public Posts?
TV Guide vs. Microsoft?
Be: We're a Microsoft threat?
Gates pledges more integrated software products
New Microsoft Word virus found}