Microsoft Trial: States Chastised

In response to her directive to share with Microsoft's legal team information they would need to question the new witness, the states presented 67 CD-ROMs of data to the other side.

Microsoft attorney Steven Holley complained that "we're now being expected to take account of and respond to" the equivalent of 36,000 400-page books in a matter of days.

The judge dressed down states attorney Steven Kuney, saying the move was "absolutely astounding."

James Bach, who runs a Front Royal, Va.-based software testing consulting firm called Satisfice, was to have been questioned this week by attorneys for Microsoft and the nine states.

While chief scientist at STLabs, Bach developed software testing methodologies and spent time using them in a lab dedicated to Microsoft product testing.

The states' legal team said Bach altered Microsoft's Windows XP Embedded operating system for use on a PC, something prohibited by Microsoft licensing rules. Originally, lawyers had hoped Bach's work will prove Microsoft can offer a modular version of Windows, something it says would be too technically complex to deliver and too costly to support.

Despite the withdrawal of Bach from the witness roster, solution providers said it's not impossible to strip down Windows.

"The modular version of Windows is believable and achievable," said Jeff Gallimore, principal at Excella Consulting, McLean, Va.

Jim Allchin, Microsoft's group vice president for Windows platforms, testified last week about the implications of opening Windows source code, which the states want Microsoft to do. Allchin said exposing code for authentication and encryption could compromise customers' security.