Novell accuses Microsoft of stabbing them in the back in a $1B lawsuit
In a blast from the past, the ongoing anti-trust suit against Microsoft by Novell is crawling along with Bill Gates recently testifying in court. It appears that things are getting a bit heated as both sides mince words publically.
The $1 billion Novell anti-trust suit against Microsoft is around something that took place over a decade ago. Apparently, back when Microsoft launched Windows 95, the company made some last minute decisions to kill off several technical features without telling Novell.
As reported by Computer World, former Novell CEO accused Microsoft’s Bill Gates of stabbing them in the back. Gates testified that the company had to make a decision to ditch some technical features that would have supported Novell’s WordPerfect in fear of stability issues with Windows 95. Gates stated, “we were making trade-offs.”
Gates also stated that Novell just wasn’t capable of delivering a compatible version of WordPerfect in time. Novell is also accusing Microsoft of withholding critical information about its last minute change in plans with the operating system leading to a failed WordPerfect launch.
Novell attorney, Jeff Johnson claimed that Microsoft initially offered the company help to get its WordPerfect up and running on Windows 95 to only withdrawal support at the last minute. As reported by the Associated Press, Johnson stated, “We got stabbed in the back.”
Novell also argued that Gates ordered Microsoft engineers to somehow make WordPerfect incompatible with Windows 95 because it was too good. Gates fired back stating that Microsoft Word had already moved into a dominate position before Windows 95 even launched.
Microsoft lawyer, David Tulchin stated that WordPerfect’s failure was Novell’s fault and Microsoft had no reason to go out of its way to give a competitor an advantage. Johnson maintained that Novell was deceived in order for Microsoft to monopolize the word processor market.
This Friday, US District Judge, Frederick Motz criticized Novell’s claim by stating “I don’t see why I have to give a product to a competitor so he can beat me.”
Related Posts:
November 25th, 2011
Nintendo vs Sony?