Okay, it's official: AtAT backs Intel exec Steven McGeady one hundred percent in the current "Redmond Justice" skirmish. McGeady's testimony, you probably recall, directly contradicts several statements made by Microsoft überguy Bill Gates during his videotaped deposition; Gates said his company never leaned on Intel to make them shut down their software development or conspire to screw with Java, while McGeady claims such overtures happened "repeatedly and on multiple occasions." Whom to trust? It's a judgment call, and our judgment says trust the guy with the cooler head when things degenerate into an insult-flinging flame war.

According to an IDG News Service article, Microsoft's lawyer-of-the-minute Steven Holley (we notice that the sarcastic and whiny Ted Edelman has been benched-- good move on Microsoft's part) brought forth evidence that McGeady had been called a "prima donna" by Intel representatives, in an attempt to discredit McGeady as a vengeful employee with a grudge. When Holly asked McGeady if being called a "prima donna" made him angry, McGeady replied, "I've been told much worse." Holly then tried a similar tack, claiming that McGeady equated Microsoft with Satan because he once penned a memo entitled "Sympathy for the Devil." The memo alluded to Microsoft's purchase of the Rolling Stones song "Start Me Up" for use in Windows 95 promotions, and suggested the alternate Stones song if Intel were shopping for a corporate theme. Leave it to a Microsoft lawyer to go for the humorless, literal interpretation; maybe McGeady should have included a ";-)".

But that's the cool thing-- McGeady never lost his patience or his sense of humor. When accused of equating Microsoft with Satan, he simply laughed and pointed out that it was a literary allusion. He went on to say that his tendency to try to make memos interesting to read was "a product of [his] misspent liberal arts education." Well, as liberal arts weenies in the tech world ourselves, we see where McGeady's coming from, and he seems like a straight shooter. Thumbs up, and here's hoping that cooler heads prevail.