Microsoft and America Online discussed making their sweeping new Web services compatible, but the software giant refused to give rival AOL a level playing field, an AOL executive testified Wednesday. Such compatibility would have given a major boost to a fledgling set of offerings that eventually is expected to transform the way consumers use the Web but has yet to catch fire, says Gartner analyst David Smith.
John Borthwick told a federal judge that non-Microsoft Web services would stand a much better chance of competing under nine states' proposed sanctions against Microsoft for antitrust violations.
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