2001 - Technology

Technology

Computer pioneer William R. Hewlett dies at his Palo Alto, Calif., home January 16 at age 87.

A federal appeals court rules June 28 that Microsoft is a monopoly but overturns last year's ruling by Judge Penfield Jackson that the company must be broken up. Bill Gates hails the decision as a victory for Microsoft's right to design its products as it sees fit, but the court has ruled that while the company's practice of "bundling" certain software into its operating system "obviously saves distribution and consumer transaction costs" it is clearly anticompetitive in at least two important aspects, notably folding its browser into Windows. The Bush administration announces September 6 that it will give up its efforts to break up Microsoft and seek a far less drastic resolution but will continue to go after the company for anticompetitive practices such as intimidation.