A report that the US Justice Department is seeking advice on how Microsoft might be carved into pieces has revived speculation about the outcome of the landmark antitrust case against the software giant.

But industry analysts and antitrust specialists said they considered it highly unlikely that antitrust regulators would ask for such a solution even if Microsoft were found to have acted illegally in perpetuating a monopoly in computer operating systems.

USA Today reported the department has approached two leading investment banks that specialise in technology, for a detailed analysis of the best way to break up the Redmond, Washington-based firm. Bankers at the firms, who were not identified, declined the request to identify which parts of the company could best be made separate and predict the reaction of financial markets, the newspaper said.