“Last week, Microsoft Corp. and government lawyers met to make
their final rebuttals before the judge renders his initial ruling
on the antitrust case against the software giant.”
“U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson also ordered both
sides to present their final written versions of the facts of the
case, which approached 1,000 pages each.”
“As expected, Microsoft lawyers used what some observers have
termed “The Linux Defense.” The gist of the argument is as follows:
How can Microsoft be guilty of creating an operating system
monopoly, when Linux vendor Red Hat, Inc. is having such stunning
success on Wall Street? The argument sounds credible,
especially considering that Red Hat’s stock has soared from $14 to
about $123 in just about a month.”
“However, government attorneys counter by pointing out that
while Linux has been successfully challenging Microsoft in the sale
of high-end business server computers, it hasn’t even dented the
personal PC market.”