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MICROSOFT ANTITRUST FACTS SURROUNDING THE CASE STUDY Bill Gates and Paul Allen formed Microsoft in 1978. Originally created to sell software for the Apple II computer, the firm established its current direction when it agreed to provide an operating system for IBM and its new personal computer. Development of the MS-DOS operating system and the ultimate success of the personal computer upon which it resided, provided a phenomenal level of business success and profits for Microsoft. The firm adopted a very shrewd method for business growth, analyzing competitor’s strengths and weaknesses, in an effort to develop competitive advantages that would fuel corporate profits. Such business practices brought them under investigation by the US Government in 1991, through an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC began this investigation upon suspicion that Microsoft had monopolized the market on PC operating systems. Although the investigation continued until 1993, a formal complaint was not filed against Microsoft for such violations of antitrust law. At the point of closure of the FTC investigation, the US Justice Department began its own investigation into the practices of Microsoft. This investigation came to a co