By Stuart Glascock ,
REDMOND, Wash. -- A somber Microsoft chairman and CEO Bill Gates defended his company gains and vowed to keep fighting.
Faced with the critical cross road in the software giant's history, Gates rejected the federal judge's findings and said his company will prevail.
''We respectfully disagree with a number of the court's findings. We believe the American legal system will ultimately affirm that Microsoft's actions were fair and legal and have brought tremendous benefit to millions of consumers,'' said Gates, speaking at a news conference here in Redmond, Wash., at the company's headquarters.
''Microsoft competes vigorously and fairly and is committed to resolving this issue in a fair and responsible manner,'' Gates said.
He repeatedly said how competitive the computer industry is, "especially the threats posed by the Linux operating system and by Sun Microsystems and IBM.''
''This lawsuit fundamentally is about one question: Can successful American company continue to improve its products for the benefit of consumers?" Gates said. "That is precisely what Microsoft did with Windows operating systems.''
At one point, Gates was asked how he was personally feeling about the ruling. He sidestepped the personal question and instead said he spends his time thinking about making his software products better.
Bill Neukom, Microsoft's vice president of law and corporate affairs, said this is just one step in a long legal process.
''We continue to be confident about our legal position,'' he said, adding the government shouldn't be involved in the design of technology products.
''A the end of the judicial process, Microsoft's position will be fully vindicated,'' Neukom said.
Both Gates and Neukom declined to discuss the prospect of a settlement.
Try TechWeb's RSS Feed!UCLA seeking Programmer/Analyst IV in Los Angeles, CA
Transportation Security Administration seeking CIO in Arlington, VA
Comcast seeking Tier 4 CRAN Network Engineer in Chelmsford, MA
SMDC Health System seeking Applications System Analyst 3 in Duluth, MN
ISES, Inc. seeking Techncial Support in Bridgewater, NJ
For more great jobs, career-related news, features and services, please visit our Career Center.
TechWeb's FREE e-mail newsletters deliver the news you need to come out on top.
Get definitions for more than 20,000 IT terms.
Editorial and vendor perspectives
