Key dates in Microsoft's legal battles

	Federal Trade Commission begins to investigate claims Microsoft monopolizes the market for PC operating systems.
	The FTC deadlocks on two votes to file a formal complaint against Microsoft for antitrust infringements and decides to close investigations. But Justice Department and European Commission antitrust investigators begin independent probes.
	Microsoft agrees to change contracts with PC makers and eliminate some restrictions on other software makers, settling both U.S. and European antitrust investigations.
	Federal Judge Stanley Sporkin rejects 1994 antitrust settlement in January. But in June, the U.S. Court of Appeals reinstates that very same antitrust settlement. In April, the Justice Department blocks Microsoft purchase of Intuit, saying the deal could lead to higher software prices and diminish innovation.
	October: Justice Department sues Microsoft, alleging it violated the 1994 consent decree by forcing computer makers to use its Internet browser as a condition of using its popular Windows 95 operating software.
	December 11: U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issues preliminary injunction forcing Microsoft to stop, at least temporarily, requiring manufacturers to install its Internet Explorer on personal computers.
	December 15: Microsoft appeals the court order and says it would sell stripped-down versions of Windows 95 to comply with the preliminary injunction.
	December 17: Justice Department asks judge to find Microsoft in contempt and accuses Microsoft of trying to evade the federal court order by offering commercially worthless software.
	December 23: Microsoft denies in court it was flouting the order to offer computer makers Windows 95 software without its Internet Explorer.
	January 14: U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson turns down Microsoft's request to remove Harvard University law professor Lawrence Lessig as a court-appointed expert in the antitrust case.
	January 14 & 15: During a two-day hearing, Microsoft executives and federal regulators argue over the Justice Department's contention that Microsoft is in contempt of the 1995 decree settling antitrust charges.
	January 22: Microsoft and the Justice Department announce a partial antitrust settlement under which computer manufacturers that license Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system can delete the desktop icon for Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. But other aspects of the government's antitrust suit remain unresolved.
	January 30: Microsoft Corp. urges a federal appeals court to overturn a lower court's ruling that it separate its Internet Explorer software from Windows 95, saying the Justice Department's case is fundamentally flawed.