Judge Scott Rosenberg today granted preliminary approval to the terms of the settlement of the Comes v. Microsoft class action lawsuit at a hearing today in Polk Country District Court. Notice describing the terms of the settlement and what class members must do to participate will be sent shortly. The parties initially announced the resolution of this case in February.

Microsoft agreed to pay up to $179.95 million to individuals and businesses that purchased Microsoft operating systems and applications between May 18, 1994 and June 30, 2006. Government entities that purchased products from June 2002 through June 2006 are also eligible to file claims. This settlement dismisses all alleged antitrust and damage claims which had been raised in the case and which could have amounted to $1 billion or more.

Systems covered by this settlement include MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT Workstation and Windows 2000 Professional. Microsoft applications in this settlement refer to Word, Excel and Office versions designed for computers with the above MS-DOS or Windows operating systems. Iowans who purchased these products for use in Iowa will receive:

• Operating systems: $16
• Microsoft Office: $29
• Excel: $25
• Word: $10