Thanks goto Will Lamb for the nod :)
The US Justice Department has reached a settlement with Microsoft in the historic three-year-old antitrust case. A "broad range of restrictions" will be imposed on the software giant. The Justice Department said the settlement will be filed in federal court in Washington DC and must be approved by the judge presiding over the case. If approved, the pact would bring to an end the three-year-old case in which Microsoft was found to have illegally maintained its monopoly in personal computer operating systems. The settlement only covered the Justice Department, not the 18 states that also sued the company. They have said they need extra time to study the agreement. If passed, the settlement would allow computer manufacturers to work with other software developers and put their products on Microsoft"s Windows operating system. The deal would also prevent the software company from punishing anyone who makes or uses competing products, the Department said. The settlement could come under criticism from the states for not doing enough to stop Microsoft from bundling new software applications into Windows, a source said. But they are under pressure to go along with the Justice Department deal, antitrust experts said.