For a moment, the software giant appeared to be on the ropes. Last year, a federal appeals court found that Microsoft was a monopolist in the PC operating system market. The company consistently used its overwhelming market dominance to suppress competition and retard innovation, the court said.

That conclusion was no surprise to veteran PC market watchers, who have watched Microsoft, not content to be highly successful, maneuver to completely dominate the PC market.

Change Denied

Given the court's ruling last year, I had hoped Microsoft was due to face sweeping changes. The lower court had ordered that the software giant be broken into two parts, a move that likely would have denied Microsoft the ability to use its market dominance in its typical bullying manner.

But Judge Kollar-Kotelly decided not to do that. She also rejected requests by nine non-settling states that Microsoft be required to offer a bare-bones version of its Windows OS, and to freely distribute source code for Internet Explorer.

Walk Like a Giant

The net effect of this ruling is that Microsoft continues to walk like a giant, essentially the same as it did in 1998, when the long-running antitrust suit began.

Windows continues to enjoy about a 95 percent market share, and the Microsoft Office suite -- an indispensable tool for enterprises across all industries -- has a roughly similar share. Microsoft's Internet Explorer is a Goliath to Netscape's David. The company continues to use its behemoth resources to gain market share in many technology markets: Witness its current $300 million marketing blitzkrieg for the MSN online service. (The company so blanketed New York City with decals that a judge ordered it to remove them.)

Microsoft holds US$40.5 billion in cash, a jaw-dropping sum that gives it the ability to acquire just about anything it wants.

Does this sound like a company that has just settled an antitrust suit? It's a shame that Americans spent all those tax dollars funding such a toothless effort.

Profit from Licensing

When Microsoft most recently reported earnings, it said quarterly profits rose 40 percent and sales increased 26 percent. It posted those astounding results even though the overall tech market suffers from a deep-seated gloom that shows no signs of lifting.

Part of these amazing profits stemmed from Microsoft's new pricing plan for enterprise users. Remarkably, the company decided to significantly raise software costs in the midst of a recession.

Many of its business customers grumbled loudly, yet essentially all of them decided to foot the bill. In truth, they had little choice, because -- thanks to Microsoft's monopolistic practices -- there are currently no vendors established enough for these enterprises to cost-effectively switch to.

Microsoft's Hubris

Consider the hubris of Microsoft's actions in the recent licensing price change. There it was, having battled an antitrust suit for four years and facing an additional court ruling. Another company might have chosen to delay the cost increases until the economy improved, or perhaps might have raised costs only incrementally.

But not Microsoft. By significantly increasing costs in a market it completely controls -- while many businesses are still having to lay off workers -- the company let it be known that its bullying tactics won't end anytime soon.