State attorneys general pressing the antitrust case against Microsoft may ask a judge to order the company to offer a cheaper, stripped-down version of its Windows operating system, a source familiar with the case said on this week.
Requiring an "unbundled" version of Windows is one of several ideas the nine states (California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, West Virginia and Utah) still suing Microsoft are eying.
The draft remedy also would strike down a long list of loopholes in the current settlement deal, take steps to give computer makers more freedom to feature rival software on their machines, and do more to ensure that Microsoft discloses key source code in Windows to other software makers, the source said.
The draft also contains a provision that would require Microsoft to include Sun Java programming language in its new Windows XP operating system (dropped because of legal problems) and ensure that its Office software is compatible with other software platforms, the source said.