Microsoft VP Jim Allchin had his written testimony released by the court Wednesday in anticipation of his trip to the stand later this week or next week. Allchin, who reports directly to Paul Maritz, who is himself being questioned by DOJ attorneys in court this week, says in his testimony that Microsoft is not the only operating system vendor adding Web browsing technology: Apple, IBM, Sun, and Novell are also adding this feature (and, to be fair, Linux usually ships with Netscape Navigator as well).
In his strongest claim, however, Allchin says that it is impossible to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 98 and that doing so will render many applications useless.
"\[That IE cannot be removed from Windows 98\] is not a matter of opinion, nor is it subject to debate," Allchin says. "It is an objectively verifiable fact, rooted in software engineering, about the design of Windows 98."
He takes the claim even further when questioned about people that have, actually, removed IE from Windows.
"My hand can be surgically removed from my body, but it was certainly a well-integrated part of my body before the surgery," Allchin says of such acts.
Allchin also has no faith in the government's ability to regulate the computer industry.
"Placing artificial restraints on product development in a fast-moving and intensely competitive industry like software is a recipe for disaster," he says
