The Microsoft antitrust trial took an interesting turn when the
US government announced its proposal to break the company into
two separate entities—one to sell Windows OSs and another to
control everything else. Although Microsoft's guilt is
infinitely debatable, the time has come to consider a future in
which Microsoft in its current form no longer exists. In the
short term, Windows users will feel negligible effects. But
let's assume the Supreme Court upholds the government's proposal
and look at how the Microsoft split will affect the hundreds of
millions of Windows users worldwide. Simply splitting Windows
from Microsoft Office and the company's other applications
probably won't dramatically change the way that customers buy
and use PCs. Windows will retain a vast monopoly in desktop
sales and a respectable server market share with Windows 2000
and Windows NT. Windows will continue to derive the bulk of its
sales from machine bundles in which the end user licenses the OS
when purchasing a new computer. B