Die, von Microsoft benannten Zeugen, blamieren sich nach Strich und Faden. Der eine weiß nicht mal, was seine Aussage bedeutet(Balkanisierung - what`s that?), die ihm der MSFT-Mann diktiert hat.
Reuters Technology
Microsoft Witness Unhappy Company Dumped Java
By Peter Kaplan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Autodesk Inc. (NasdaqNM:ADSK - news) executive testifying for Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) conceded on Thursday that he had complained to Microsoft last year about a decision to drop rival Java software from its new Windows XP operating system.
Autodesk Chief Technology Officer Scott Borduin's admission undercut his written testimony criticizing antitrust sanctions sought by nine states against Microsoft for risking the ``stable, predictable'' platform offered by Windows.
States' attorney Kevin Hodges cited a pretrial interview in which Borduin said the dropping of Sun Microsystems Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:SUNW - news) Java seemed designed to boost Microsoft's rival .NET Internet services software.
``It just seemed like at the time a transparent way to try to get people to move to the .NET environment,'' Borduin said at his deposition. Borduin's written testimony had warned against fragmenting Windows under proposals by the states for a version of Windows that can be customized by computer makers and software rivals.
He said software developers will be less likely to write software programs to an unstable or unpredictable operating system.
But under questioning from Hodges, Borduin agreed that by dropping Java, a language several Autodesk programs relied
heavily on, Microsoft itself had fragmented Windows.
(*grins*)
``I would like for (Java) to be consistently available,'' Borduin said.
Autodesk produces computer-aided design, digital media and manufacturing software.
CRITICAL E-MAIL
Also testifying on Thursday was the co-founder of Onyx Software Corp., that makes customer management applications.
Onyx Chief Executive and former Microsoft programmer, Brent Frei, said in written testimony that independent software
companies benefit from the add-on features in Windows.
Allowing these features to be removed would cause the ``balkanization,'' or breakup into smaller units, of Windows and raise costs for independent software firms and their customers.
Under questioning, Frei admitted that Microsoft general counsel Bill Neukom had provided instructions on what to testify
about. Frei also said he had to ask Neukom what the word ``balkanization'' meant. (*hehehe*)
The nine states are trying to convince U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to impose severe sanctions against
Microsoft, arguing that the company is continuing to use its Windows monopoly to bully other companies in the industry.
The states have rejected a proposed settlement of the four-year-old case reached between Microsoft and the U.S. Justice
Department in November. Nine other states signed on to the proposed settlement.
Under the settlement proposal, Microsoft would be required only to hide the features from computer users.
Borduin was Microsoft's third defense witness after four weeks of testimony by witnesses for the states.
An Aug. 8 e-mail from Borduin to Microsoft about dropping Java quoted a highly critical but unnamed Autodesk engineer:
``Our wholehearted support of Microsoft is grossly misplaced. This is a company that will screw anybody at the drop of a hat,
golden partner or otherwise.''
In 2001, Autodesk won one of three Microsoft Global Software Partner of the Year awards for bringing Windows-based
applications to customers and its commitment to using .NET in the future.
Microsoft has said it was forced to drop Java in order to comply with the terms of a settlement reached with Sun. Sun had sued
Microsoft, saying it had violated its license for Java in an effort to sabotage the software.
A Microsoft employee responded to Borduin's e-mail a month later by telling him that computer users can download the Java
software from Microsoft's Web site.
A federal appeals court in June upheld the original trial court's conclusion that Microsoft had illegally maintained its Windows
monopoly through acts that included trying to crush Netscape's Internet browser.
The hearings on the demands of the nine states are expected to go through May at their current pace. Kollar-Kotelly is also
considering whether to endorse the proposed settlement.
Reuters Technology
Microsoft Witness Unhappy Company Dumped Java
By Peter Kaplan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Autodesk Inc. (NasdaqNM:ADSK - news) executive testifying for Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) conceded on Thursday that he had complained to Microsoft last year about a decision to drop rival Java software from its new Windows XP operating system.
Autodesk Chief Technology Officer Scott Borduin's admission undercut his written testimony criticizing antitrust sanctions sought by nine states against Microsoft for risking the ``stable, predictable'' platform offered by Windows.
States' attorney Kevin Hodges cited a pretrial interview in which Borduin said the dropping of Sun Microsystems Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:SUNW - news) Java seemed designed to boost Microsoft's rival .NET Internet services software.
``It just seemed like at the time a transparent way to try to get people to move to the .NET environment,'' Borduin said at his deposition. Borduin's written testimony had warned against fragmenting Windows under proposals by the states for a version of Windows that can be customized by computer makers and software rivals.
He said software developers will be less likely to write software programs to an unstable or unpredictable operating system.
But under questioning from Hodges, Borduin agreed that by dropping Java, a language several Autodesk programs relied
heavily on, Microsoft itself had fragmented Windows.
(*grins*)
``I would like for (Java) to be consistently available,'' Borduin said.
Autodesk produces computer-aided design, digital media and manufacturing software.
CRITICAL E-MAIL
Also testifying on Thursday was the co-founder of Onyx Software Corp., that makes customer management applications.
Onyx Chief Executive and former Microsoft programmer, Brent Frei, said in written testimony that independent software
companies benefit from the add-on features in Windows.
Allowing these features to be removed would cause the ``balkanization,'' or breakup into smaller units, of Windows and raise costs for independent software firms and their customers.
Under questioning, Frei admitted that Microsoft general counsel Bill Neukom had provided instructions on what to testify
about. Frei also said he had to ask Neukom what the word ``balkanization'' meant. (*hehehe*)
The nine states are trying to convince U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to impose severe sanctions against
Microsoft, arguing that the company is continuing to use its Windows monopoly to bully other companies in the industry.
The states have rejected a proposed settlement of the four-year-old case reached between Microsoft and the U.S. Justice
Department in November. Nine other states signed on to the proposed settlement.
Under the settlement proposal, Microsoft would be required only to hide the features from computer users.
Borduin was Microsoft's third defense witness after four weeks of testimony by witnesses for the states.
An Aug. 8 e-mail from Borduin to Microsoft about dropping Java quoted a highly critical but unnamed Autodesk engineer:
``Our wholehearted support of Microsoft is grossly misplaced. This is a company that will screw anybody at the drop of a hat,
golden partner or otherwise.''
In 2001, Autodesk won one of three Microsoft Global Software Partner of the Year awards for bringing Windows-based
applications to customers and its commitment to using .NET in the future.
Microsoft has said it was forced to drop Java in order to comply with the terms of a settlement reached with Sun. Sun had sued
Microsoft, saying it had violated its license for Java in an effort to sabotage the software.
A Microsoft employee responded to Borduin's e-mail a month later by telling him that computer users can download the Java
software from Microsoft's Web site.
A federal appeals court in June upheld the original trial court's conclusion that Microsoft had illegally maintained its Windows
monopoly through acts that included trying to crush Netscape's Internet browser.
The hearings on the demands of the nine states are expected to go through May at their current pace. Kollar-Kotelly is also
considering whether to endorse the proposed settlement.
