University computer science professor Andrew Appel testified yesterday and Tuesday in support of an antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. brought forth by nine states and the District of Columbia.
Appel testified in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
The plaintiffs have advocated stiff penalties against Microsoft, including forcing the software giant to release a version of its landmark operation system Windows without other built-in Microsoft software, such as Internet Explorer, as part of the basic system.
Microsoft says it would be impossible to test the more than 1,000 possible configurations of Windows if it released a modular version. It also says a modular version would disable many other software programs that rely on built-in Windows software.
However, Appel said requiring Microsoft to release a modular version of Windows would not endanger software development. It would only make it slightly more difficult for the company to solve software problems than in the current version, he said.
With the 70,000 available Windows applications and thousands of printers, monitors and other pieces of computer hardware available, Microsoft could not have tested every way Windows is used, he said.
"It is mathematically impossible to test every possible configuration in the universe, so Microsoft tests a representative sample," Appel said.
The number of tests of every potential combination would be "more than the number of atoms in the universe," he said.
Appel also pointed out that makers of other web browsers, like AOL TimeWarner's Netscape Navigator, would have half a year under the states' plan to make their browsers more compatible with non-Microsoft applications.
Microsoft would be forced to release some Windows programming data, including the schematics for Internet Explorer, to other software developers.
"There's a lot of room for innovation," Appel said. Appel is the 14th witness to testify on the plaintiff's side.
He submitted a written testimony Tuesday and was cross-examined by Microsoft lawyers yesterday.
The states are expected to end their case this week. The court will then hear the Microsoft case. The company is expected to call about 30 witnesses, including Microsoft chief executive Steve Balmer and co-founder Bill Gates.
Earlier in the year, the federal government and nine other states settled with Microsoft for lesser penalties.
States that rejected the government's settlement.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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