Final answer:
Microsoft faced antitrust claims in the late 90s, accused of using its operating system dominance to quash software competition, leading to legal action that settled in 2002 with Microsoft agreeing to change its practices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The discussion centers around Microsoft, a leading American software company, and its entanglement with antitrust regulators in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Antitrust regulators claimed that Microsoft exceeded simply profiting from its innovations and dominant market position. Instead, it attempted to leverage its control of operating system software to dominate other software sectors. Specifically, Microsoft was accused of anticompetitive practices, such as exclusive dealing and predatory pricing, including threats to withhold Windows from computer manufacturers who installed competing software like Netscape's browser and bundling Internet Explorer with Windows to drive out competition.
In April 2000, a federal court concluded that Microsoft had engaged in unfair competition. Although an initial recommendation to split the company was overturned on appeal, by November 2002, Microsoft agreed to a settlement with the government, pledging to end its restrictive practices.Microsoft is a leading American software company that has had a dominant position in the software market for operating systems. It has been accused by government antitrust regulators of engaging in anticompetitive practices such as exclusive dealing, tying its Windows operating system with its Internet Explorer browser, and predatory pricing. These actions have been seen as an attempt to use its market power in operating systems software to take over other parts of the software industry.