The government lawsuit, filed in October, seeks to prevent Microsoft from requiring computer makers to preinstall Internet Explorer as a condition of licensing Windows 95, the software that handles basic operations on personal computers and enjoys more than an 80 percent share of the market.
The government contends Microsoft is using its near monopoly in Windows to muscle into the Internet browser market, thereby damaging rival Netscape Communications Corp. Browsers enable people to view and download information from the Internet.