If U.S. wins, DOJ may seek Windows licensing

According to a report in Business Week, the U.S. government has some interesting choices ahead of it if it wins its antitrust case against Microsoft Corporation, as expected. While the Appeals Court should keep any of these scenarios from playing out, sources close to the DOJ report that a variety of options are being considered. An obvious and drastic action: Separate Microsoft into at least two companies so that Windows development is separated from applications such as Office and Internet Explorer. A group advising the DOJ has also allegedly recommended a court order that would prevent Microsoft from integrating other applications into Windows to prevent the company from unfairly leveraging its OS dominance.

Another potentially drastic solution: Force Microsoft to license the source code to Windows to its competitors so that they more easily bring their own products up to speed. This might also open the door to competing operating systems that could run Windows applications.

Whatever happens, this is all speculation at this point. And while the staunchest Microsoft haters out there may relish the thought of the software giant being dismantled, the chances of that actually happening are very slim indeed