Richard L Schmalensee

This week's videotaped testimony of a forgetful and uncharacteristically hesitant Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates gave the appearance that the government had seized the upper hand in its landmark antitrust trial against the software giant. But while Gates' video testimony electrified the courtroom audience and had Microsoft Corp.

This week's videotaped testimony of a forgetful and uncharacteristically hesitant Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates gave the appearance that the government had seized the upper hand in its landmark antitrust trial against the software giant. But while Gates' video testimony electrified the courtroom audience and had Microsoft Corp.

Microsoft Corp. faces off Tuesday against the Justice Department in the next phase of the landmark antitrust trial whose outcome is expected to transform the technology landscape. The software giant is expected to focus on America Online Inc.'s $10-billion purchase of Netscape Communications Corp. to show that the computer industry remains highly competitive.

After weeks of plodding cross-examination of 12 government witnesses, Microsoft Corp. plans a swift counterattack when it begins its defense against federal antitrust charges this week. Before Microsoft even begins to call its own lineup of 12 witnesses, company lawyers will ask U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to dismiss the case. The software giant will argue that America Online Inc.'s planned $4.2-billion purchase of Microsoft archrival Netscape Communications Corp.