States Cancel Courtroom Demo of Modular Windows in Microsoft Case

States seeking stiff antitrust penalties against Microsoft Corp. abruptly canceled plans Thursday for a courtroom demonstration next week of how Windows can be easily modified--a claim that Microsoft has disputed.

The surprise move, requested by the states’ lead trial lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, came at the end of Thursday’s proceedings, meaning that testimony in the two-month-long antitrust trial is likely to wrap up today.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is expected to issue her final ruling on the landmark case this summer.

The demonstration of a modular version of Windows, in which software applications can be substituted easily, was viewed by some observers as an opportunity for the states to discredit a key claim of Microsoft and company Chairman Bill Gates.

Gates testified in court last month that it would be impossible to comply with the states’ demand that his company offer a version of Windows that consumers and PC makers can customize by replacing the Internet Explorer Web browser, Microsoft’s Windows Media Player and other key software with rival products.

A lawyer for the states, who argued that a modular version of Windows would help make the market for PC operating systems more competitive, said they decided not to put on rebuttal witnesses after Kollar-Kotelly scolded them for dumping 67 CDs containing rebuttal documents on Microsoft lawyers at the eleventh hour.

“I cannot tell you I am happy about the way this has been done,” Kollar-Kotelly told the states’ lawyers in court.

Steve Houck, a New York antitrust lawyer hired by the District of Columbia, California and eight other states suing Microsoft for antitrust violations, said, “In light of the judge’s comments, we felt we would let the case rest.... We decided our case was strong enough” without a rebuttal.