Awaiting the EU ruling ...

With a critical ruling in Microsoft's European antitrust case expected in a matter of hours, Mary Jo Foley of Microsoft Watch opines that unbundling Windows Media Player from the Windows operating system "just might be the bitter pill Microsoft needs." She draws parallels to the Internet Explorer case and asks her readers, "Would Microsoft become more of an innovator again if it were forced to compete on the merits of its technologies, rather than on the spoils of its monopoly?"

The ruling from the European Court of First Instance is expected early Wednesday morning, Pacific time. (See this earlier post for more backround and links.) Microsoft is asking the court to suspend key elements of the European Commission's antitrust ruling, including the provision requiring the company to sell a version of Windows in Europe that doesn't come with Windows Media Player pre-installed.