'Apple and Microsoft have this weird love-hate relationship,' Giga's Enderle said. 'Apple will resist filing suit as much as possible because they are so dependent upon Microsoft Office.' Since AOL filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft last week on behalf of its Netscape Communications subsidiary, the possibility of further litigation against the software giant by other companies considered to have suffered similar damages has widened, according to analysts. But which company will be next in line behind AOL is less clear. Among the group are Apple, Intel, IBM and RealNetworks. There does seem, however, to be one particularly strong contender: Sun Microsystems. "You could certainly put Sun on a shortlist," Giga Information Group analyst Rob Enderle told NewsFactor. Forrester research director Carl Howe also told NewsFactor that he would not be surprised if Sun were to sue Microsoft. "But I think it's harder for them to make the argument that they were directly injured," Howe said.
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