There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who have an opinion, for or against Microsoft, in the U.S. Justice Dept.’s portentous antitrust action against Bill Gates and gang; and then there are those like me, who find the technical and legal details too daunting to know what to think about it. To me, the Microsoft case is pure spectator sport in which I have no rooting interest. But this I do understand —
Gates and the federal government know that this is about something important. Both sides could save gazillions of dollars and megatons of aggravation reaching some kind of compromise, but as of this writing both seem resolved to act out one of the great business stories of this century, although its ramifications will be felt mostly in the next.