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WASHINGTON -- Alternatives to the Windows operating system will get a boost under the proposed settlement agreement between Microsoft and the Justice Department.
The 60-KB deal, which must be approved by a federal judge, says Microsoft may not "retaliate" against a computer maker for cozying up to software firms that compete with the world's most-famous antitrust defendant.
In particular, computer makers such as Dell (DELL), Compaq (CPQ) and IBM (IBM) will be allowed to ship boxes that include "both a Windows operating system product and a non-Microsoft operating system, or will boot with more than one operating system."
If there is sufficient market demand -- and such demand may never emerge for desktop machines -- computer makers will be free to ship computers with, for instance, Windows and Linux installed.
Any aggrieved computer manufacturer can take its complaint to a three-person oversight committee, which can hear anonymous complaints.
Software developers also will have more freedom to experiment with non-Windows operating systems. The agreement says that Microsoft (MSFT) may not take action against a developer for creating, promoting or supporting "any software that competes with Microsoft platform software or any software that runs on any software that competes with Microsoft platform software."
Even Jamie Love, who works for the Ralph Nader-founded Consumer Project on Technology and uses Linux, found something nice to say: "There is lots to like about the proposed agreement." Love added, however, that he reserves final judgment until he can examine the agreement for possible loopholes.
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More Microsoft: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) wants Microsoft to know that Washington isn't done with it yet.
In a statement on Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman pledged multiple hearings to explore whether the proposed settlement met with his approval.
Leahy said: "We will want to examine whether competitors have adequate opportunities to provide those products, and computer manufacturers have the freedom to configure their machines as they think best and whether the remedies are sufficiently adaptable to the constantly changing competitive environment of the Internet and computer industries."
An aide to Leahy said that Microsoft lobbyists briefed the committee staff Friday about the details of the settlement.
A spokesman for the House Judiciary committee, which shares oversight responsibility for the Justice Department, would not comment on its plans.
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Taxman: Not many Washingtonians are paying attention right about now, but a federal ban on some Internet taxes quietly expired a week ago.
The Senate never voted for a two-year extension -- as clouds of anthrax spores wafted through the Hart office building, legislators may have had other things on their minds -- even though the House of Representatives did.
The biggest obstacle in the Senate was Bryon Dorgan (D-North Dakota), who placed a "hold" on the bill. That prompted one group opposed to Internet taxes, the Center for Individual Freedom, to run a newspaper ad blaming Dorgan for the delay.
This week, the Senate inched closer to approving an extension of the moratorium.
Proponents of collecting additional taxes, such as Dorgan, had hoped for a broader bill that would move in that direction. But since the moratorium expired, the Senate appears more likely to vote on a straightforward two-year extension.
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What a difference: Two years ago, Free Republic founder Jim Robinson was busy writing a screed linking then-candidate George W. Bush with drug-running and the CIA.
Now he's become the president's top cheerleader -- and is busy deleting posts to the conservative community's message boards that apparently are too critical of Dubya and the war effort.
"Lots of grumbling lately about deleted posts. Well, my friends, the simple truth is the game has changed. We are now at war," Robinson wrote this week.
To Robinson, "This is not the time to raise doubts about our leaders. This is not the time to raise conspiracy theories. This is not the time to second-guess our intelligence agencies. This is war."
