Microsoft Corp. gave a federal judge Wednesday a detailed computer demonstration aimed at shoring up the centerpiece of its defense: that the Internet Explorer software is intertwined with Windows 95 and can’t be removed without degrading the operating system. Microsoft vice president David Cole used a laptop computer hooked up to large video monitors in U.S. District Court here to rebut the prosecution’s position that the Internet software can be easily removed. Analyst Glenn Weadock, testifying for the government, Tuesday used the “Add/Remove” program within Windows 95 to remove the Explorer program, which provides Internet access. But Cole showed the court that such a procedure only removes the ability to easily access Internet Explorer, and that the program remained within Windows 95. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson on Dec. 11 ordered Microsoft to quit forcing computer markers to install Internet Explorer as a condition of licensing Windows 95.”Clearly, running Add/Remove wouldn’t have satisfied the order,” Cole said.
