Microsoft got a dose of good news November 1 when a federal judge approved most of the provisions of its antitrust settlement with the Justice Department, largely shutting the door on some states' concerns that the settlement wasn't aggressive enough.

The ruling doesn't mean the industry should lie down at Microsoft founder Bill Gates' feet and surrender. Other competitive threats to Microsoft have emerged since 1998, including the ascension of Linux as a viable server alternative -- witness IBM's commitment to open-source and the continued rise of Java applications. Still, the decision was seen as a victory for Microsoft, which contended that the additional remedies -- including disclosing more of the code that runs its Windows operating system to competitors -- would be bad for business.

Judge approves Microsoft antitrust settlement

Microsoft Gets Its Wish

FindLaw: U.S. v. Microsoft / State of N.Y. v. Microsoft