A computer expert called as a government witness in the antitrust trial against Microsoft says there was no technical reason for the software giant to combine its Internet browser with Windows.
David Farber, a professor of telecommunication systems at the University of Pennsylvania, said in written testimony that bundling applications into Microsoft's operating system could actually degrade PC performance.
"The claims that efficiencies exist from this combination of functions are misleading," said Farber in a sworn statement unsealed Monday.
The US Justice Department and 19 states have charged Microsoft with illegally maintaining its monopoly in computer-operating software and using that dominance to try to crush competitors of its Internet Explorer browser.
The trial before US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson enters its eighth week when it resumes Tuesday. To speed the trial, witnesses have supplied sworn statements on which they are then cross-examined.
The government has accused Microsoft of bundling the Web browser with its Windows operating system as a tactic to shut out competing browsers, such as Netscape's Navigator.
Microsoft maintains it is just giving consumers the convenience of integrated products. An appeals court earlier this year supported browser integration in rejecting an injunction against Windows 95.
In Windows 98, Microsoft has integrated its Internet Explorer program even more tightly.
Farber said he saw no reason why the browser and the operating system could not be sold separately and later combined, either by the customer or computer makers, or original equipment manufacturers.
In testimony that could be important should the government win its case and demand remedies, Farber said a team from Princeton University had succeeded in separating Internet Explorer from the remainder of Windows 98.
Besides slow computer performance, Farber said other drawbacks of integrating software included the greater risk of software bugs. Nevertheless, Farber conceded that there was possible preference among some users for the convenience of "one-stop shopping" provided by bundled products.
"But only the availability of an unbundled version of Windows 98 will cure the difficulties which arise for many OEMs, application developers, and retail end users," Farber said.
Microsoft dismissed Farber's testimony as an opinion piece that ignored the preferences of customers.
"The popularity of Windows is strong evidence that nobody wants the sort of rudimentary operating systems Mr. Farber apparently prefers," Microsoft said in a statement.
Copyright© 1998 Reuters Limited.
