Gates had two opponents at the hearing, Barksdale and McNealy. Barksdale's Netscape competed with Microsoft when it came to web browsers — Microsoft made Internet Explorer, while Netscape made Navigator, then the top browser.
McNealy's Sun Microsystems had already filed a lawsuit against Microsoft the year before the hearing, alleging that Microsoft violated the company's licensing agreement by making changes to Sun's Java software that made it work differently. (The suit was settled in 2002.)
But during his testimony, McNealy denied that the issue at hand was Microsoft vs. Sun, or Microsoft vs. Netscape — it was a matter of antitrust. Microsoft, its opponents alleged, was expanding into new markets too quickly and needed to be stopped, otherwise it would strong-arm any competition in its path.
"Despite how some have painted the picture, the issue is not about one company versus another, or a personal battle between one CEO and another," McNealy said. "The issue is about protecting consumer choice in the marketplace. It is about protecting innovation. And it is about enforcing the laws of the land."