MICROSOFT has lost some of the original programming code for its Windows
and MS-DOS software, infuriating a company it will be facing in court next
summer. In February, a US federal court in Salt Lake City ordered Microsoft to
provide the 鈥渟ource code鈥� for Windows and MS-DOS to software company Caldera,
which alleges that Microsoft deliberately made its Windows software incompatible
with rival operating systems like Caldera鈥檚 DR-DOS.
Caldera is seeking damages for lost sales due to what it alleges is a
built-in incompatibility. Microsoft denies the claim. Although Microsoft has
handed over some of the code that Caldera wanted, it says it has lost some of
the source code for Windows and the older MS-DOS software. Jim Cullinan, a
spokesman for Microsoft in Seattle, says of the missing pieces: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e very
difficult to find because they鈥檙e six or seven years old . . . Source code is
our most valuable asset, but in the technical field [this particular source
code] is far outdated.鈥�
Caldera chief executive Bryan Sparks says the lack of some of the source code
should not damage his company鈥檚 case, but he believes that the source
code鈥攃omplete with programmers鈥� comments鈥攎ight have helped in court.
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