EU to Decide Microsoft Appeal by April

European Union Court of First Instance President Bo Vesterdorf told reporters Friday that the court planned to decide Microsoft's antitrust case by early spring. Microsoft has appealed to the court hoping to overturn a 2004 ruling by the European Commission that found Microsoft engaged in anti-competitive behavior.

As a result of the 2004 decision, Microsoft was forced to create a special version of Windows XP without Windows Media Player and pay a 497 million euro fine. "Hopefully, we will have a ruling in early spring - hopefully before April," Vesterdorf said to reporters at a conference, but made no other comments.