Microsoft A Monopoly, Judge Says

Microsoft Corp., whose Windows operating system is installed on approximately 95 percent of the world's personal computers, has a monopoly for operating systems and has used its OS dominance to ensure market domination, the judge in the company's antitrust trial ruled on November 5. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson did not indicate that the Redmond, Washington-based software powerhouse acted illegally, though his findings sent a message that he may find that Microsoft violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.``Microsoft has demonstrated it will use its prodigious market power and immense profits to harm any firm that insists on pursuing initiatives that could intensify competition against one of Microsoft's core products,'' Jackson said.Jackson said that because there is no significant alternative to the Microsoft Windows operating system, Microsoft can establish any price for its operating system software.Judge Jackson must now determine if the government has successfully proven in court that Microsoft violated the law by keeping other operating systems from challenging the dominance of its Windows OS.