The nine dissenting states are continuing to litigate and have led the U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to preside both over settlement proceedings and ongoing litigation in the case.
The nine dissenting states are California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Utah and West Virginia, plus the District of Columbia.
Under a remedy proposed by the nine states and the District of Columbia, consumers could buy Microsoft's Windows operating system on an "a la carte" basis.
The the Wall Street Journal reported in its Friday edition that Microsoft competitors such as Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL), Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) could benefit directly under the remedy.
The holdouts also are planning a provision that could restore basic Java support to Windows.
Microsoft earlier this year dropped support for the widely used Internet programming language, first developed by Sun, forcing consumers to download Java from the Web instead.
Judge Kollar-Kotelly asked the states to file proposed remedies by Friday in which Microsoft is scheduled to respond later this month.
Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled hearings next week on the settlement.
Microsoft remains "hopeful" it can resolve any outstanding issues as quickly as possible.
Shares of Microsoft closed Friday at $67.83, down 82 cents, or 1.2%, on Nasdaq volume of 21.1 million shares. Average daily volume is 38.3 million shares.
YunHee Kim; Dow Jones Newswires; 2019385388
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