The case may be over, but it sounds like Microsoft's just beginning to fight. It figures, of course, that all through the "Redmond Justice" trial, Microsoft seemed to treat the whole thing as a joke, but now that a final ruling's been made, the company has decided it's finally time to go to war. And you thought Windows 2000 was late; by comparison, Microsoft's legal team makes the Win2000 developers look like early risers. Actually, that's not quite accurate, because it's not even Microsoft's lawyers who have scrambled to action-- it's the company's marketing department.

As faithful viewer Jerry O'Neil points out, the New York Times describes what we can only call a full-scale media blitz by Microsoft's spinmeisters. Having lost the case, the company is now reportedly spending "millions on ads and lobbying efforts" to try and win the battle of public opinion. And Microsoft isn't just limiting its efforts to lobbying in Washington; the Times refers to the company's assault as a "nationwide, seven-day-a-week program of mass-media advertising, letter-writing, petition drives and seemingly random 'interceptions' of elected officials at public events." It's nice what illegally-obtained monopoly money can buy, isn't it? Expect to see plenty of politicians becoming suddenly vocal about the shameful way the current administration has tried to stifle "innovation."

But as we all know, it's not the politicians that will make the difference; it's the average slack-jawed yokel. Enter Operation Sweater v2.0. If you were watching The X-Files last night (which was in itself an interesting choice of advertising airtime-- target an audience who already displays a predilection for "the government's out to get us" conspiracy theories) you saw it: good ol' Bill Gates himself, deigning once more to speak to his royal subjects. Not about the trial, of course, but of "innovation" and how his company's been "making great software for twenty-five years" (evidently they just haven't released any of it yet). And, of course, "the best is yet to come." Here's the really wacky bit, though: if you were sharp, you noticed that Bill was wearing a different sweater. Version 1.0 was a navy blue V-neck deal with vertical stripes in the weave; last night's update featured a similar sweater in a much lighter blue. Apparently the marketing folks finally figured out why the last commercial didn't induce hordes of outraged citizens to storm Washington, demanding freedom for Microsoft. It wasn't because Bill's words were largely meaningless fluff (since in 2.0 it's virtually unchanged, content-wise); it was because Bill's sweater was too dark. Well, we'll just have to wait and see if the lighter blue provokes the desired effect.