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Two new characters will join what has fast become a spicy antitrust soap opera Tuesday, as the Justice Department and Microsoft reconvene in Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's US District courtroom.
Back in December, when Jackson set the date for this next hearing, he asked each side to designate an expert to clarify the contradictory assessments of the ease or difficulty with which Microsoft's Internet Explorer (MSIE) browser can be uninstalled from the Windows 95 operating system.
The Justice Department, arguing that Microsoft bundled the browser with their OS simply to boost MSIE's market share, asserted the browser could be easily disabled. Microsoft, meanwhile, argued that their browser is integrated into Windows and can't be removed without "breaking" the operating system and other programs.
Standing up for the Justice Department on Tuesday will be Glenn Weadock, a Denver, Colorado, computer consultant who has taught Troubleshooting Windows, the IBM PC Survival Course, and a slew of other technical seminars over the last decade. The Stanford University engineering graduate has written a handful of computer books such as Creating Cool PowerPoint 97 Presentations, and his company, Independent Software, has a client list that includes AT&T, IBM, Intel, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and US West.
His counterpart on Team Microsoft will be David Cole, a vice president responsible for MSIE development. Cole previously led the Windows 95 and Windows 3.1 development groups. He is expected to reiterate his position, which he already made clear to Judge Jackson, in an 8 November brief.
"If Microsoft were required to devote engineering resources to development of a new Windows 95-like operating system that did not include Internet Explorer," wrote Cole in the brief, "I believe the resulting product would be rejected by the market because such a product would, of necessity, be stripped of features and functionality that are dependent upon Internet Explorer." Cole also explained that IE is "not a mere 'Web browser,'" but a "core sub-set of Windows 95 technologies."
Microsoft has used this argument to comply with Judge Jackson's injunction to not force computer manufacturers to license Internet Explorer 3.0 in order to get a license for Windows 95. However, critics have called the company's compliance half-hearted.
The software superpower offered PC makers a choice of the current version of Windows with IE or an outdated version of the software - prompting the Justice Department to charge the company with contempt of court.
