MS sales undamaged by court case

The US Department of Justice's antitrust case against Microsoft has made no impact on the software giant's sales, according to IDC.

Dan Kusnetzky, vice president at IDC, claimed Windows had tightened its grip in the desktop operating system market and was leading in the server market. According to IDC figures for 2000, Windows accounted for 41 per cent of server operation environment (SOE) shipments while 92 per cent of desktop systems shipped were Windows. In addition, the software giant's SOE shipments jumped 20 per cent over previous records, giving the company a 13 per cent lead in the market. Linux was the only faster growing operating system with a 24 per cent increase. Despite slowing sales of Windows desktop systems, Microsoft still managed to dominate. Linux remains a bit player with only a two per cent share of the desktop market. IDC's Kusnetsky said the move by organisations towards a 32bit operating environment has resulted in many companies migrating to the Windows platform. Meanwhile, Microsoft's case gained support from the appeals court today as the original trial Judge, Penfield Jackson, came under scrutiny. The panel of seven Judges considered whether Judge Jackson was biased when he ruled to break the company in two. He is quoted in several magazine interviews as comparing Microsoft to Napoleon and a drug dealing gang. Appeals court Judge David Sentelle raised the possibility of the case being sent back to a trial court if Judge Jackson's findings are discovered not to be proper.