BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Microsoft's Bill Gates encountered some unexpected turbulence during a whirlwind public tour the week before the government's antitrust trial against his software company.
The powerful Microsoft Corp. chairman was hissed by some software customers Wednesday as he responded to an analyst's remark at a computer symposium here. The analyst said many technology managers are forced to buy the latest Microsoft software at often high prices because of the way Microsoft designs its computer programs.
The issue is key in the government's case against Microsoft, which accuses the software giant of exploiting its monopoly in personal computer operating systems to crush software rivals, limiting consumer choice. Microsoft adamantly defends its practices, which it contends actually bring consumers greater choice of software features at low prices.
Mr. Gates insisted that most customers choose to upgrade because they want the new features. But some clearly disagreed among the thousands of corporate technology managers watching the panel discussion.
"People like me are forced to upgrade," attendee Bill Schrier said after Mr. Gates' talk.
Mr. Schrier, who manages the telecommunications network used by Seattle's city government, noted that he was unable to run certain computer applications on older Microsoft business programs. As a result, he was forced to purchase Office 97, Microsoft's latest package of business software.
In the newest accusations against Microsoft, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Apple Computer Inc. -- which struck an alliance with Microsoft last year -- is privately upset about what its executives regard as Microsoft's attempts to stifle an Apple multimedia technology called QuickTime.
The Journal, citing a previously undisclosed account that Apple supplied to state and federal investigators, said engineers at Compaq Computer Corp. were interested in licensing QuickTime in a deal that might have given Apple a $2 royalty for each Compaq machine using the software. But senior Compaq executives overruled subordinates for fear Microsoft might object to a licensing arrangement, Apple executives said.
Mr. Gates has been busily crisscrossing the nation this week, just before the Justice Department's case goes to trial Monday. He appeared publicly Tuesday in St. Louis and Monday in Bloomington, Ind., and in Denver.
In Florida, Mr. Gates defended his company's practice of continually integrating new software features into its Windows operating system. The Justice Department's case hinges on accusations that Microsoft, by giving away its own Internet browser in its latest operating program, has shut out Netscape, which pioneered the market.
"We think it was a pretty obvious thing to get the browser capability built into the operating system," Mr. Gates said. "We're very confident that kind of innovation is a great thing."
