ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: Last week's U.S. federal court ruling against Microsoft means the software giant could be forced to break up into smaller companies, but Microsoft's chairman isn't letting the ruling stop him. CNN technology correspondent Rick Lockridge now on how Microsoft is planning for the future.</s>RICK LOCKRIDGE, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bill Gates, William the conqueror, having captured the desktop world, has set his sights on the wireless devices and so-called Internet appliances that he believes will dominate the future. Gates says he's now putting all his energy into designing new software for the post-desktop era to give increasingly mobile Internet users a common platform, a single standard. Sound familiar? But can Gates and company set the worldwide standard all over again? Microsoft initially tried to own the coming age of souped-up cell phones and kitchen-counter computers with its Windows CE software, a slimmed down version of the company's flagship operating system. But Windows Lite, as it's often called, ran into heavyweight opposition: the Palm Pilot, for one. Palm software is crushing Win CE in the mobile marketplace by a five to one margin. And IBM has just announced it will no longer make Windows CE products. But Gates has other irons in the fire. He is a major investor in teledesic (ph), the planned high-speed satellite date network, and Microsoft owns or invests in countless new Internet start-ups. But if it hopes to build a new Internet empire, Microsoft must defeat a whole new set of competitors who have been energized by this week's antitrust verdict. (on camera): No one wants to go from leading man to bit player, especially here in L.A. But mired in legal troubles, and surrounded by able competitors, how much longer will Bill Gates see his name atop the marquee? Rick Lockridge, CNN, at the Internet World Trade Show in Los Angeles.
Bill Gates Tries to Look Beyond Antitrust Ruling Against Microsoft