Microsoft will today face the first court hearing in the sweeping antitrust lawsuit filed against the software company on Monday by the US Justice Department and in this early phase of the case, the odds are not in its favour.
Although today's hearing is merely a scheduling session, it marks the beginning of what may be the most critical part of the antitrust action.
Microsoft must win this first phase if its plans next month to launch Windows 98, a new version of the widely-used PC operating system, are not to be placed at risk.
Hearing the government's request for a court order forcing Microsoft either to separate its own Internet browser software from Windows 98 or to include Netscape Communications' rival browser will be Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of the US District Court in Washington.
The issue is not new to Judge Jackson. He has already adjudicated in an earlier legal tussle between the Justice Department and Microsoft and ruled in no uncertain terms for the government.
