Microsoft officials sought to dissuade Intel from investing in handwriting software startup GO Corporation in 1990, according to the latest round of e-mail evidence

Microsoft officials sought to dissuade Intel from investing in handwriting software startup GO Corporation in 1990, according to the latest round of e-mail evidence released in a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft underway in Minnesota. In a separate 1998 e-mail, which was released as part of the Minnesota case, Lotus Development Corporation worried that Microsoft's J# programming language would constitute a "very real threat to open Java." Both e-mails came to light in the case of Gordon, et al. versus Microsoft, which got underway in the Fourth Judicial District Court for the State of Minnesota on March 15th. The state is attempting to prove that Microsoft engaged in predatory business practices that harmed competitors, then overcharged end-users for its products. A first round of email correspondence unveiled in court earlier this month provided juicy details of the fight for market share between Microsoft's MS-DOS and Novell's DR-DOS in the late 1980s. The latest e-mails released as plaintiff's evidence by the court discuss Microsoft's alleged effort to derail GO, its tussle with Lotus over Java, and its perceived advantages over software competitors in developing applications for its own Windows operating system. For its part, Microsoft said the individual e-mails, taken by themselves, are misleading.