Microsoft, Government Spend Day in Talks

Lawyers for Microsoft Corp. spent all day in intensive negotiations with Justice Department officials and state attorneys general, trying to settle two threatened government antitrust lawsuits. Sources close to the discussions characterized them as constructive, but said the key issues remained unresolved. The opposing sides planned to continue the negotiations at the Justice Department offices today. The two sides stepped back from what had looked like a certain collision in the courts on Thursday, with the government agreeing to hold off filing their suits and Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft agreeing to delay the planned shipment of Windows 98, a key element of the dispute.