Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates is expected to testify today in a federal trial in Utah in which Novell accuses Microsoft of violating U.S. antitrust laws in relation to the WordPerfect program.

Gates is expected to testify this morning. This afternoon, after the jury is excused, arguments are expected to continue in Microsoft's request to dismiss the case, according to a Microsoft spokesman.

Microsoft had asked the judge to dismiss the case Friday, about mid-way through the eight-week trial, according to The Associated Press, which said the judge was reserving a decision.

The case stems from Novell's contention that Gates "ordered company engineers to reject WordPerfect as a Windows 95 application because he feared it was too good, according to AP. "WordPerfect's share plummeted from nearly 50 percent to less than 10 percent of the market as Microsoft's own office programs took hold. Novell said it was forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1.2 billion loss two years later."

Microsoft lawyer David Tulchin said Gates decided against installing a WordPerfect program because it threatened to crash Windows, and that Novell's missed opportunity was its own fault, AP reported.

[Update 7:58 a.m.: The Associated Press reports that Gates, wearing a gray suit and a yellow tie, has taken the stand, beginning his testimony with a history of Microsoft. "We thought everybody would have a personal computer on every desk and in every home," he said, according to AP. "We wanted to be there and be the first."]

[Update 2:12 p.m.: The Associated Press has more coverage from the scene of the trial. It reports: "Gates said Novell just couldn't deliver a Windows 95 compatible WordPerfect program in time for its rollout, and its own Word program was actually better. He said that by 1994, Microsoft's Word writing program was ranked No. 1 in the market above WordPerfect." Read the AP story here.]

(Photo of Bill Gates from Microsoft)