His credibility under relentless assault at the Microsoft
antitrust trial here, Gates staged a series of carefully
orchestrated events to counter government charges
that he personally ordered a series of predatory
assaults on competitors and allies in the high-tech
industry and then lied about it to government
investigators.

The software kingpin defended his company's hardball
business tactics as capitalism at work for consumers,
and blasted the government for showing edited
portions of his videotaped deposition to make those
tactics appear illegal.

And he disclosed that he might now be willing to
testify at the Microsoft antitrust trial.

Gates was given a standing ovation by 2,000
shareholders at a meeting at his company headquarters
in Redmond, Wash., called to formally re-elect him
and other top company officials.

The software executive used that event to fire back at
the government after weeks of silence.

You can't help but wonder when you hear about the
private breakfast meetings and private dinners on an
ongoing basis between government lawyers and
Microsoft competitors, Gates said.

The more we see of the case, the more clear it is that
there's an effort to advance the interests of a handful of
competitors over the interests of the public or the
economy, he added.

Noting that the Appeals Court this summer upheld
Microsoft's right to bundle its Internet Explorer
browser with the company's popular Windows 95
software operating system, Gates added: The Court of
Appeals ruling left the government without much of a
case.

As our witnesses come forward you will see the facts
simply don't support the government's claim, he
assured investors.

Gates is not only the richest man in the world but also
one of the nation's most respected people according
to recent polls.

Over the past few months he has gone to great lengths
to craft a benevolent and visionary image - restyling his
hair and crooning with Barbara Streisand.

He recently has handed over day-to-day control of
Microsoft's operations to key executives to
concentrate on development of the next generation of
software as part of a strategy to distance himself from
the legal mudslinging of the antitrust trial.

But his image has taken a beating over the last two
weeks as the government has played portions of a
videotaped deposition he gave in August in which he
behaves strangely and gives vague and pedantic
answers - failing to offer a benign explanation for some
of Microsoft's hardball business tactics.

Many of Gates' answers about key events in the case
were directly contradicted by company e-mails and
other documents introduced at the trial.

In an interview on ABC's Good Morning America,
Gates tried to counter the devastating impact of those
videos.

They take every piece of e-mail I've sent, pick up the
one they think can confuse people, then they edit the
videotape and don't show my whole deposition, Gates
said on the program.

They intentionally decided not to call me as a witness
so they could just show snippets of edited video.

The fact that there's some e-mail here at MS that says
"let's go up and beat this guy...' there's nothing wrong
with that. That is capitalism at work for consumers, he
added.

Although the irascible Gates was left off the
government's and Microsoft's witness lists, he said
he'd willingly testify if called upon.

Justice Department officials said they'd welcome
Gates' appearance at the trial and predicted that Judge
Thomas Penfield Jackson would bend his 24-witness
limit to accommodate him.

There was no comment from the Microsoft defense
team last night as to whether they'll alter their trial
strategy and include the Microsoft boss on the
company's witness list.

-- Niles Lathem - 11/12/98