Microsoft, Caldera Settle Antitrust Suit

Microsoft Corp. and Caldera Inc. said today that they've reached a settlement in Caldera's 1996 lawsuit, just one week before a federal court trial was slated to begin.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Caldera had accused Microsoft of using misleading product announcements
to stop sales of its DR-DOS operating system and of programming Windows products to be incompatible with Caldera's.

Tom Burt, Microsoft's general counsel for litigation, said in a release,
"We are pleased to put this issue behind us. Rather than litigating, we prefer to
focus on building great software for our customers in this dynamic and
competitive industry."

Similar relief was expressed by Caldera CEO Bryan Sparks: "We are pleased
with the result of this lawsuit. We now look forward to vigorous competition in the marketplace with our Linux products and strategies both from Caldera Systems, Inc. and Lineo, Inc."

Microsoft said it will record a one-time charge against earnings in the
quarter
ending March 31, 2000, which will reduce earnings per share by about
three cents.

In November U.S. District Judge Dee Benson denied Microsoft's final four
motions that the lawsuit be dropped, setting the stage for a jury trial
that was to have begun Jan. 17. Four other motions for dismissal were
thrown out last summer.

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant claimed that Caldera
shouldn't be allowed to include its European and Japanese subsidiaries
in its case. But Caldera argued that there was proof of codes embedded
in Windows software that made it incompatible with its DR-DOS programs.
A computer user found old versions of Windows 3.1 and Korean Windows
3.0 and 3.1 and turned them over to Caldera.