FILE PHOTO 3APR00 - The U.S. government on April 28 urged a judge to break Microsoft Corp. into two separate companies to curb its monopoly power in key software. The 17-page proposal from the U.S. Justice Department and a number of states to a federal judge hearing the landmark Microsoft antitrust case would separate Microsoft's Windows operating system from software applications like word processors and spreadsheets. Microsoft President Steve Ballmer is shown at the Microsoft Studios during an April 3 press conference in Redmond, Washington. apb/Photo by Anthony P.

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