“Entrepreneurs, start-ups and high-technology veterans in
Silicon Valley cheered a federal judge’s ruling on Friday that
software juggernaut Microsoft Corp. wields monopoly power and used
it to cripple competing firms.
“It’s a big day for the whole industry,” said James Barksdale,
the former chief executive of Netscape Communications Corp….”
“The fact that Microsoft holds a monopoly for desktop
operating systems is painfully obvious to anyone in this industry,”
said Bob Young, chief executive of Durham, N.C.-based Red Hat
Inc., the largest distributor of the Linux operating system
–an upstart rival to Microsoft’s Windows.”
“… Jackson’s 207-page finding of facts in the trial that began
just over a year ago, will embolden potential rivals to develop and
sell products that are best for their customers rather than those
that are least likely to raise the ire of Microsoft, industry
executives said.”