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Posted at 10:30 AM PT, Nov 10, 1998
WASHINGTON -- Steve McGeady, the Intel executive who Monday said Microsoft was out to stop his company's software-development efforts reiterated many of those charges before concluding his testimony late Tuesday morning.

In questioning by David Boies, the lead government attorney in the antitrust trial, McGeady covered a number of points about Microsoft's efforts to pressure Intel to stop developing software that Microsoft saw as competing with the Windows operating system. Perhaps the most striking moment of the questioning came when Boies replayed a portion of Microsoft CEO and Chairman Bill Gates' videotaped testimony in an apparent effort to show that Gates was not telling the truth.

The portion of the tape that was played Monday had Boies asking Gates, "Did Microsoft make any effort to convince Intel not to help Sun and Java?"

Gates, looking down at his desk and rocking gently back and forth, paused for 30 seconds before answering, "Not that I know of."

After replaying that portion of the tape Tuesday morning, Boies then turned to a memo written by Gates in June 1996, to a Microsoft senior vice president, Paul Maritz, in which Gates discussed Java-development efforts.

Then Boies turned and asked McGeady the same question that he had put to Gates on whether Microsoft had made an effort to convince Intel not to help Sun Microsystems on Sun's Java software.

McGeady replied, "Repeatedly and on multiple occasions."

McGeady testified that a Microsoft official had told Intel that Microsoft "owned software to the metal."

"The felt that they had control of all the software above the hardware," McGeady said.

McGeady explained that Intel had been trying to develop device drivers -- which among other tasks manage peripheral devices -- that would work independent of the operating system.

"They told us we had no business writing software at that level," McGeady said.

Boies also introduced notes McGeady had taken during a meeting at which Gates spoke in July 1995 and that McGeady had attended.

In his notes, McGeady quoted Gates as saying, "This antitrust thing will blow over."

According to the notes, Gates added, "We may change our e-mail retention policy."

When that last statement was read the courtroom erupted in laughter.

Microsoft is slated to pick up with its cross examination of McGeady Tuesday.

Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. The U.S. Department of Justice, in Washginton, can be reached at www.usdoj.gov. Intel Corp., in Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at www.intel.com.

Patrick Thibodeau is a senior writer at Computerworld, an InfoWorld affiliate.

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