This is good for a chuckle.
Gates Says Microsoft Didn't Push
Intel to Drop Its Software Efforts
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- In videotaped testimony shown in court Monday,
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates denied that his company ever tried to
discourage software efforts by its longtime partner in the personal-computer
industry, Intel Corp.
Mr. Gates, though, derided some of Intel's software efforts as of such low
quality that they actually hindered Microsoft's popular Windows operating
system.
"We thought the quality of their work was very low as well as not working
with any of our new Windows work," Mr. Gates said. "We may have
suggested at some point that the net contribution of their software activities
could even be viewed as a negative."
Asked directly by Justice Department lawyer David Boies if he or anyone else
at Microsoft had attempted to convince Intel not to engage in any software
activities, Mr. Gates waited about 15 seconds before answering: "No."
Microsoft was expected to begin questioning Intel Vice President Steven
McGeady later Monday.
The government contends that Microsoft, maker of the dominant Windows
operating system, tried to illegally extend its influence in other areas to restrict
competition, even trying to intimidate Intel, which makes the processors used
by 85% of computers and had sales last year of $25 billion.
Mr. McGeady was expected to be asked about an August 1995 memo
saying that Mr. Gates was livid about Intel's "investments in the Internet and
wanted them stopped."
Mr. McGeady made the observation after a meeting among Mr. Gates, Intel
Chairman Andy Grove and others during which "Gates made vague threats
about support for other [non-Intel] platforms."
But Mr. Gates, in videotaped testimony taken last summer, denied knowledge
of any Intel development of Internet software.
Although Microsoft and Intel have enjoyed a long partnership in the high-tech
industry, they've also had disputes. One involved Intel's decision in 1995 to
develop a new technology called Native Signal Processing, a technique to use
instructions from Intel's chips, rather than software code from Microsoft, to
run some programs more quickly.
The advantage of NSP for Intel was that it required faster computer chips,
which would encourage people to buy new computers.
Mr. Gates complained then that Intel's NSP technology didn't work with his
upcoming Windows 95, one of Microsoft's most important software
products. After talks between Microsoft and Intel, Intel decided not to pursue
NSP.
"Intel was wasting its money by writing low-quality software that created
incompatibilities for users, and those negative experiences weren't helpful for
any goal that Intel had," Mr. Gates said on the videotape shown Monday.
Intel's Mr. Grove said in a 1996 interview with Fortune magazine: "I admit we
were dumb enough not to understand that the software we developed was
actually contrary to some of the features of Windows 95... . We basically
caved."
Government lawyers questioned Mr. Gates over three days last summer at
Microsoft's headquarters near Seattle. They have previously indicated they
plan to show on video during the trial about eight of the 20 hours of
interviews.
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