It's the same old story... Microsoft has issued a press release that clarifies their response to the Department of Justice's recent charges of anticompetitive practice. They are accused of using the predominance of Windows to "force" the dissemination and use of Internet Explorer. Their stance on the matter is that MSIE is part of the Windows operating system-- a "new feature" of Windows, and not an application. "For the Justice Department now to say that Internet Explorer and Windows are separate products is plain wrong," states William H. Neukom, Microsoft's senior vice president for law and corporate affairs, which is likely a fancy title meaning "lawyer." (We prefer the term "mouthpiece," because of its gritty 50's film noir feel.)

So evidently, Windows and MSIE are not separate products, because Microsoft certainly wouldn't lie. Which means that those of you reading these words in Internet Explorer on your Mac are running Windows, and you didn't even know it! And now that MSIE is also available for UNIX, it appears that Microsoft has been really busy porting Windows to other platforms... Seriously, is anyone going to buy this argument? Is Microsoft banking on no one at the DoJ knowing the difference between an operating system and an application? If it's part of the OS and not a separate product, why is it listed on Microsoft's "Online Products" page, along with FrontPage and Visual C++?

The legal eagles amongst you (or even the fantastically bored) might want to read Microsoft's complete brief You realize, of course, that if Microsoft makes this stick, they will have a precedent to require the inclusion of Office 99 with every future Wintel system built, saying it's simply the integration of new word-processing and spreadsheet features into the Windows operating system. Sheesh.