UK users unmoved by anti-trust ruling against Microsoft.

It's official: Microsoft is a bully. But UK users are more concerned with preparing for Windows 2000.

This week US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued his 207-page report on the US Department of Justice's anti-trust case against Microsoft, finding that the firm holds a harmful monopoly in the PC operating system market.

Microsoft users are taking the decision in their stride. Tony Stansfield, technology and strategy consultant at the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is evaluating technologies that will require Windows 2000, said: 'The verdict does not affect those decisions.'

Jeremy Acklam, head of IT at Virgin Rail, added: 'I don't think the verdict is as fundamental to end users as the US thinks. We have not felt the need to alter direction.'

Ashim Pal, analyst at researcher Meta Group, believes users have few alternatives. 'Realistically the verdict is not going to affect Windows 2000 decisions in the short term. What are the other options? Deploying System 10, Linux or a network computer? The decision really makes itself,' he said.

Paul Martin, IT manager at Nottingham City Council, believes most users will only alter their strategies if the US government takes extreme action and breaks up Microsoft. 'Currently, we are monitoring the situation,' he said.