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Microsoft on Trial

Links to El Reg coverage of MS anti-trust trial

Tue 20 Oct 1998 // 15:09 UTC

During the period of the Microsoft antitrust trial The Register will be maintaining this page in order to provide readers with easy access to all our trial coverage. If you've a special interest in the trial, then we suggest you bookmark this page. If you have a special interest in avoiding the trial, we suggest you unplug your computer now.

15th October 1999

MS lobbies to slash DoJ antitrust budget Conduct during litigation (against MS) has been shocking, apparently

7th October 1999

DoJ's MS-busting budget a bargain - but what has MS spent? Statement of costs shows great bangs per buck 24th August 1999
MS wins Sun appeal - but it's probably only temporary And the appeal court agrees Sun has a good case

23rd August 1999

DoJ trial summary damns MS with facts The DoJ's 800 pages contrast sharply with the MS version
Damning MS with the facts II - monopoly power Part two of our analysis of the DoJ's case
Damning MS with the facts III - the browser battle The third part of our analysis of the DoJ's case

18th August 1999

Special report: Trial truth according to Microsoft We analyse Microsoft's mammoth version of trial events 10th August 1999
MS judge - 'how I avoided Vietnam' Just tell the 'Cong when the war's supposed to finish - LBJ, read and weep...

9th August 1999

MS filing claims browser plans started in 1992 Spinning recommences as adversaries file last documents

8th August 1999

MS to face spate of lawsuits if it loses the big one And we name the mysterious source close to Microsoft

30th July 1999

DoJ prepares to demand break-up of Microsoft Thoughts at Justice seem to be turning to the nuclear option

18th July 1999

Analysis: How MS used the WISE Trojan Horse against Unix The jury said it wasn't illegal - but it certainly wasn't nice
Bristol case: how MS escaped the guilty verdict No 'relevant market,' no monopoly, so no case, said jury

16th July 1999

Official: it's legal to screw Unix - MS beats Bristol rap Connecticut jury clears company of antitrust violation

14th July 1999

Bristol demands $263 million as MS trial goes to jury But Caldera still leads in the vast claim stakes

9th July 1999

MS case totters in Caldera action - $1.77bn damages? Tin hats for the attorneys as another blocking attempt falls

7th July 1999

Exclusive: We reveal Gateway exec's secret MS evidence You could call it von Holle's 'white' deposition...
Secret trial evidence II - how MS brought Gateway to heel Remove IE and lose Windows licence threat
Secret evidence III: 'give in or we'll audit you' - MS The evidence begins to move beyond the anodyne
Secret evidence IV: the 'MS Product Leverage Model' Almost all of what Gateway wants to keep quiet about

4th July 1999

MS paid economist witnesses' company $6m in 18 months Bristol trial reveals NERA's substantial Microdollar pile

5th July 1999

Dissent at MS over trial? Nope, PR spin... Have those spinmeisters been planting stories again?

30th June 1999

Judge denies first MS motions in Caldera case Caldera CEO optimistic of complete victory

29th June 1999

So how much does an MS star witness cost - $1m? But remember he's not bought - just retained
MS browser stats based on dud data Six million, plus or minus two million? Oh dear...
Final MS witness sinks slowly, boringly The gold-plated MIT economist don't give good rebuttal
Linux, open source baffles MS witness Is it easy, is it hard? Confused by that, too...
How DoJ is slowly extracting MS' secret documents Little by little, they're coming into the public domain

25th June 1999

MS proposes three browser 'ballot' system for PCs Got the idea while playing the slots in Vegas
Murky record of MS 'character' witness And how the attorneys tried to suppress those embarrassing clippings
MS in 11th hour trial 'exposure' of AOL BeOS PC plan Defence team unearths key news report - on MSNBC

22nd June 1999

Will MS lawyer swing for trial defence catastrophe? And read to the bottom for a squabble on why nobody wants Bill...
AOL boss muses, can we afford to dump MS? Interesting memos - shame the witness knew nothing
Fishing trip nets MS Sun secrets, but no evidence So under the circumstances, mustn't grumble...
Judge muses on Microsoft's motivation Method acting approach makes it into trial proceedings

21st June 1999

MS Death List II - enemies scheme was live And the programme was approved by Gates

18th June 1999

MS pushes write to congress campaign via Windows Update 'Soo.. I wrote mine and said to nail them to the cross...'
'Cooked' MS memo II - DoJ chases missing emails Missing material may involve lawyer, broad arrows

17th June 1999

MS compiled 'friends and enemies' list of companies They'd none of them be missed, no they'd none of them be missed
Open up Windows source code, says Sun boss Meanwhile, the MS bid to integrate the English language proceeds apace
'Cooked' MS memo - could Gates be in contempt of court? MS lawyers caught filing made-up 'evidence'

16th June 1999

IE uninstall - the MS two browser trick explained The trial transcript seems to point to another demo fiddle

15th June 1999

Felten hits back at MS exec Allchin on integration And an old Kempin-related email sticks its oar in...
MS DLLs are like ice cream and carrots - expert So if you'd thought wet string and chewing gum, you were wrong...
AOL's plans for dumping Windows, IE Slightly Walter Mitty, they were, but TV's another matter

14th June 1999

MS pricing for Win95: Compaq $25, IBM $46 Our friend from IBM reveals some interesting numbers

12th June 1999

Godfather Gates irate at IBM's lack of 'respect' Bizarre wish that Gerstner pay tribute to MS technology (sic)
MS attorney becomes marketing spinmeister, judge gets bored When the judge wonders if you're getting anywhere, you're in trouble...
Killing OS/2 by quotas - how MS Win95 deals stifle rivals The deal isn't 'ship less OS/2,' but 'ship more Win95,' capiche?

11th June 1999

DoJ expert: there are 3,000 bugs in Win98 Or if we can multiply right, there could be 21,000...

10th June 1999

Cut a deal or you don't get Win95 - IBM faces PC suicide In the months before the launch, MS cut off the air supply
Screws went onto IBM at Gates' bidding Once good soldier Kempin got the word from Bill, the hunt began
IBM evidence shows how MS controls PC OEMs The Norris dossier provides the most detailed evidence yet

9th June 1999

MS offered IBM Win95 source for 'neutral' PC A neutral PC, friends, is one that only comes with MS software

8th June 1999

MS economist gets fail mark from his old prof Complete analysis of Franklin Fisher's examination
The day Bill Gates screamed IBM's house down Our 'visionary' gets very angry over SmartSuite and OS/2

7th June 1999

MS caught searching for massaged Netscape sales data First decide on the result, then get the data. Heard it before?

4th June 1999

IBM witness reveals MS OEM price threats and deals Want to know what everything costs, and why? Read on...
Linux is outselling Windows 98, says Microsoft It's apparently 'Microsoft boosts Linux' day today...
MS, DoJ lawyers out in force for IBM witness Both sides are fielding big teams for the potential key trial witness
MS OEM VP to IBM: dump Lotus and we'll cut a deal Who's a naughty boy then, Joachim?
IBM witness - MS probes for conflict within IBM Ah, the 'witness is a rogue cannon' gambit...
IBM witness: the inside poop on MS and IBM killing OS/2 All the twistings and turnings as Big Blue switched to Win 95

3rd June 1999

Gates article contradicts MS lawyers - again 'I agree with Bill' - DoJ lawyer's shock admission
AOL-Sun plan for 'no MS content' PC And indeed, mightn't that be what AOL's doing now

1st June 1999

DoJ's 'Punch' beats MS' 'Judy' The Felten deposition

31st May 1999

MS urged Symantec boss to write articles defending it Gordon Eubanks didn't remember, but fortunately there were emails...

28th May 1999

IBM exec outlines MS plan to throttle OS/2, Lotus Ship the wrong stuff and you got 'IBM prices' - apparently
IBM exec reveals MS sales quotas for Win95 And a 20 per cent price hike if you missed them

27th May 1999

IBM 'dossier' to detail MS Windows threats The DoJ has a squealer from Big Blue, apparently...
IE uninstall expert upgrades his program Responds to customer (Microsoft) reactions - how touching...

26th May 1999

Win98 and IE broke Sun copyright - judge rules But the ruling is 'tentative and non-binding'
IE uninstall witness makes MS trial comeback Defence gets another crack at shooting holes in Felten

24th May 1999

Unsealed Caldera documents expose MS' DR-DOS moves Oh joy! A fresh smut supply from Gates and Kempin!
Has Microsoft's defence run out of ideas? The AOL-Netscape gambit clearly isn't working

20th May 1999

AOL chief bizarrely predicts MS trial memory lapse AOL's answer to Bill Gates could have trouble remembering the question

18th May 1999

Could judge's 'free OEMs' suggestion herald MS trial deal? Reports point to the kind of settlement that might be made
MS trial opponents allowed to share information And Microsoft's move to delay Bristol trial is denied

17th May 1999

MS trial may resume next Monday Apparently the judge is still trying to get rid of his drugs. Or something...

10th May 1999

Called to the bar DoJ, Microsoft post their rebuttal witnesses

30th April 1999

HP considered shipping non-MS OS with its Win95 PCs Testimony confirms earlier suggestions from MS OEM boss
Gates smoking email asks how to break rival's software After a quiet period, the other trial is perking up again...

23rd April 1999

Gates TV to return next week Another mountain of trial transcripts is due to be made public

22nd April 1999

MS readies witness list for DoJ Wars: Episode 2 Sun VP, AOL CEO already lined up for depositions

13th April 1999

Gates interview undermines MS witness testimony Now Schmalensee's 'bits of paper' claims look even less plausible...

1st April 1999

MS trial schedules slips towards 2000 And The Register opens its 'predict the result day' competition

30th March 1999

States push for shackles on MS in settlement talks It looks like Bill & Co will be facing some tough demands

26th March 1999

MS-DoJ deal talks scheduled for Tuesday But from what we hear of Microsoft's 'offer,' it doesn't look good

25th March 1999

Gates trails antitrust deal - but is he stalling again? He claims talks, the states say nay, so is MS spinning?

16th March 1999

US states mooting $10 billion plus fines for MS Bill Gates says he'll give all his money away. Here's his chance...
'I read all my email' - shock Gates admission Bill forgets forgetting last year, and stiffs himself with responsibility for everything, apparently

12th March 1999

Senator tries to axe DoJ Microsoft trial funding Trial just a cover for Al Gore's election campaign, claims Gorton

11th March 1999

Microsoft lawyer memo 'leaked' Intended for wider consumption, our Graham reckons
Cont. Microsoft lawyer memo leaked

1st March 1999

Will MS roll out Gates to shore-up the defence? The imminent arrival of Gates 2.0 may keep him out of the box, Graham reckons
MS exec wriggles over Hardcore Bill's Java support When he says he doesn't want to support it, he means they should support it - or something
How MS destabilised Netscape and Marimba Witness Eric Engstrom defends the DimensionX purchase
MS rebuttal exec deletes his email every two months But under the circumstances, this could get Engstrom into serious trouble
MS OEM boss shocked by Compaq-Netscape deal-allegedly Joachim Kempin expresses improbable surprise and ignorance on various occasions
Did MS break QuickTime? It didn't help fix it...MS on Trial Eric 'no mail' Engstrom downplays key meeting as 'preliminary and exploratory'
How MS 'publishes' Java code by burying it I've shoved it on MSDN among 37 old files, and there's no index, says helpful gofer
The MS campaign to rein-in Intel multimedia development Engstrom admits MS need to "own all the driver software down to the metal"

25th February 1999

Rosen takes lead as least credible MS witness Could this be the end of a glittering career?
How MS tried to keep the lid on its OEM customers Mid-98 the wonderful new flexible MS didn't seem that flexible at all...

24th February 1999

Compaq testimony points to murky secrets of MS relationship And isn't it amazing how little Compaq execs are allowed to know? Apparently...
MS exec caught fibbing about Netscape code And the art of threatening lies in how you tell them, doesn't it?
Gates thanks Compaq witness for help over trial Not that this could be thought of as collusion, of course...
MS subpoenas AOL-Netscape documents Which may eventually tell us interesting things about the Sun connection
Compaq-MS murky secrets II-an analysis We piece together the story of how these two lovable companies conduct their business

23rd February 1999

Microsoft's OEMs could strip out IE shell, says MS exec But only after they've strictly adhered to the MS boot sequence.
MS trial to recess over March The judge and prosecutor have other fish to fry, but they'll be back...
MS exec claims Gates was wrong-ex-MS exec? Dan Rosen suffers the embarrassment of being abandoned by the prosecution because he's discredited enough already

22nd February 1999

Two new lawsuits chase refunds for MS software users Money back demanded for Windows and Office
Caldera case could cost Microsoft $1.5bn Figure revealed in application for trial delay

19th February 1999

MS permitted to ship 'independently developed' Java tools But it can't infringe Sun's copyrights, source or specs.
Chase stonewalls over IE and AOL But the court may be less impressed than Redmond is...
Compaq exec planned special MS deals to fox the Feds To obscure the companies' closeness to rivals and the DoJ, apparently
MS emails reveal PR spin plans on integration Series covers how the issue should be presented to the public

18th February 1999

Chase: AOL ships IE so it can hurt MS case It helps MS' browser share to hurt Microsoft. Redmond's a psychological snake-pit...
MS only decided to integrate IE in March 97 This email seems to smoke more than a little...
Andreessen wasn't paying attention at key meeting-MS exec Please sir, he was doing his email instead... Please sir...

17th February 1999

MS heads for trouble in Caldera lawsuit Redmond's motion for summary judgement looks flimsy...
Compaq exec downplays MS threat to pull its Windows licence The huge 1996 fight wasn't, apparently. We had an understanding.

16th February 1999

How MS OEM contracts block Windows refunds Take it up with the OEMs, says MS. After all, they signed the MS contracts, didn't they?

15th February 1999

Trial documents reveal nature of MS-Pipex deal There are some missing bits, but a story can still be pieced together
How MS-AOL deal resulted in 90 per cent share for IE And how, when the contract ends, the position could easily be reversed
MS exec evasive on ISPs and downloads Myhrvold's views seem flexible, to say the least

12th February 1999

MS trial over by August? The Register predicts... But if we get this horribly wrong, blame Graham, OK?
Chase denies Gates said 'How much to screw Netscape' But it's not entirely clear what the lad did say, then...

11th February 1999

MS' $500k sweethearts deal with UK ISP But did it use it as a crowbar to help IE into the market?
MS exec denies knowledge, MS press release defies gravity As a bit of light relief, we thought we'd analyse Redmond's latest bulletin
MS contract exec explains Netscape 'acceptable degradation' But not very effectively, one might observe...

10th February 1999

MS strangles puppy to save MacOffice Dump Rocky the Dog or the apps get it, seems to have been the deal

9th February 1999

MS dastardly plan deprived Netscape users of mouse It's official -- Microsoft's contract lawyers DO take the Mickey...
MS hits trouble with another video For some reason it wanted to prove Net signup was faster in 98 than Windows 3.1...

8th February 1999

Rational president obeys MS call to colours Or, as he put it, does his duty as a citizen
How Allchin exposed video fiddle last Monday - but nobody noticed He actually blurted it out a couple of seconds before Boies launched his attack
Conclusion: DoJ spin bowls MS video clean Most spectacular government victory since Kuwait, says observer
MS video II - full transcript, again... All regretably unscientific and pointless, it would appear...
How MS tried to dig itself out of video hell Unfortunately, demo two seemed to be full of legal holes as well...
Silverberg to return in MS split into four divisions The mystery man's 19 month sabbatical may be drawing to a close
Allchin takes a beating over video And as the trial transcript shows, he didn't do that well on the old integration issue either...

5th February 1999

MS screws-up video remake, and admits it wasn't real anyway Phrases like 'blatant attempt to mislead the court' seem to spring to mind...

4th February 1999

Allchin lobbied Maritz to pull IE4 from Windows 98 Jimbo's heroic defence of integration is somewhat undermined by what he was saying during development
That video -- the full transcript Fortunately, we got to it before it disappeared...
MS had plans of its own for an IE uninstaller for Win98 Or so it would appear, from some of the trial exhibits
Allchin heads for video remix We look at the events leading up to this week's disaster
Opinion: Yesterday's men conduct the virtual trial Ignorant lawyers and yes-men execs are circling to little end

3rd February 1999

MS exec recants over video 'inconsistency The Register reckons MS wouldn't have got into this pooh if it documented the Windows registry...
'Slow' machine in test video was running MS Office It seems the PC having trouble accessing Windows Update hadn't had IE uninstalled at all

2nd February 1999

Oops - MS patent lawyers say browser is separate Patent contradicts other lawyers' case, apparently...
DoJ skewers MS exec over falsified video Allchin admits in court that his evidence was tampered with, and is now therefore FDISKed

1st February 1999

Maritz on... the BeOS BeOS competes with Windows in all circumstances
Maritz on... Apple Microsoft feared "patent terrorism" if Apple collapsed
Maritz on... Netscape "We did conclude marketing arrangements whereby gave preference to our product over competing browsers"
Maritz on... Lotus Notes "It has the potential to compete across the board with our product line"
Maritz on... Linux "Number of Linux developers vastly exceeds the number of NT developers"
Maritz on... Intel Did MS see Intel's NSP as a potential platform competitor?
Microsoft's Maritz unsure how many APIs in Windows 'Couple of thousand-I guess'

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