By Kate Hanaghan, 23 April 2002 08:00
NEWS Bill Gates has used his time in the witness stand to argue his company faces disintegration if the nine states achieve their aim of a "modular" version of Windows. Gates told a court in Washington the states' proposal of splitting Windows from other pieces of software, including Internet Explorer and Media Player, "would turn back the clock on Windows development by about 10 years and effectively freeze it there". But Gates found himself up against attorney Steve Kuney, who accused the Microsoft founder of exaggerating the ramifications of the settlement. Kuney then produced an email dated 1998 from Gates to Microsoft employees. It ordered them to stop working on ways to make Office documents compatible with non-Microsoft web browsers. The email said: "Allowing Office to be rendered very well by other people's browsers is one of the most destructive things we can do to the company." Gates argued the memo was in response to a project that wasn't making any progress - he said he was merely re-allocating resources. During the original trial Gates used a video taped interview to give evidence. It is thought his failure to appear in person could have contributed to the company losing the case.
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