A harshly worded federal appeals-court order and uncertain prospects before a lower court here could nudge Microsoft toward making a deal with the Justice Department in its antitrust case. The software company may be running out of options to avoid coming to terms with the government, antitrust experts said after Friday's terse order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denying a bid to delay further proceedings while the Supreme Court considers whether to intervene. The order places the case back before a lower court to determine a remedy for Microsoft's antitrust violations. Paul Rothstein, a Georgetown University law professor, said he thinks the appeals court was "trying to position things for a settlement" when it rejected the stay and rebuked Microsoft for having "misconstrued" an earlier appellate decision setting aside Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's order to break up the Redmond, Wash., company. Microsoft on Friday reiterated its previously stated eagerness to reach a deal with the Justice Department. "We remain committed to resolving the remaining issues in the case quickly through settlement," spokesman Jim Desler said.