News
U.S. Investigates Whether Microsoft Bullied Intel
- By Scott Bekker
- August 26, 1998
Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. currently face antitrust lawsuits regarding business practices with separate companies, and now the U.S. government is investigating Microsoft to find out if the software behemoth has inhibited Intel’s progress, according to a
New York Times report.
In this new investigation, the Department of Justice is saying that Microsoft’s operating system monopoly affords the company the power to unfairly manipulate the pace of innovation in the industry, and Microsoft abused that power in dealings with Intel.
Dating back as far as 1995, Microsoft’s CEO, Bill Gates, and Intel’s leader, Andy Grove, have butted heads on the matter of Intel’s software development. Intel worked on software to enhance Internet communications, and audio and video capabilities, but Microsoft impeded Intel’s development because it conflicted with Microsoft’s own Internet interests. The Times reports that according to an internal memo written by an Intel executive who attended the meeting, Gates made it perfectly clear that he wanted Intel’s Architecture Labs to curb software development.--Thomas Sullivan, Staff Reporter/Reviews Editor
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.