Microsoft Trial Closes.

Trial proceedings closed Thursday in the Justice Department_s antitrust case against Microsoft, with no clear-cut winner in sight. A decision by U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson is not expected until early next year. "It has been almost pure pleasure," Jackson said, concluding the proceedings. Both sides could still settle any time before the judge rules. If the judge rules Microsoft is guilty, his judgment will be released later because it will contain a remedy, attorneys said. Justice and 19 states charge Microsoft with abusing its operating system monopoly to extend its dominance into the browser market to crush its competitor Netscape. Microsoft attorney Michael Lacovara added drama to the trial in the final minutes following the government_s arduous questioning of MIT economist Richard Schmalensee with a published report that America Online was in talks to buy a hardware company to develop an AOL PC. This was the second development by AOL that Microsoft is citing as the ever-changing dynamics of the industry. Microsoft has used AOL_s $10 billion acquisition of Netscape in partnership with Sun to show aggressive competition exists in the software industry.