The company claims that the seven-judge panel in the Appeals Court overlooked or misinterpreted vital pieces of evidence during the trial hearing. In particular, it refers to evidence given by a government witness who had previously testified that he was not an expert on the design of operating systems. During the trial the witness gave evidence that implied browser code had been deliberately used in the Window’s operating system in order to stop computer manufacturers or users from removing the browser.
This evidence conflicted with that of Microsoft experts and led the court to the conclusion that it could not overturn a lower court finding that the bundling of browser software and the Windows operating system was illegal. The unsatisfactory resolution of this issue may cause further problems for Microsoft in its development of its new Windows XP operating system.
The Microsoft petition follows a request from the Department of Justice for the case to be sent back to a lower court so that appropriate action can be taken to rectify Microsoft’s illegal conduct without delay.