Microsoft Class Action Lawsuit
In 1998, United States v. Microsoft was submitted alleging that the company, because of its leadership position within the OEM operating system market, abused their power as a monopoly to drive competitors out of the marketplace. Many aspects of this class action litigation have been settled but similar cases are ongoing.
Although much of the litigation surrounding Microsoft came about in the late 90s, the government's interest in the company started back in the early 90s. Like the future case, Microsoft was accused of abusing its power with OEM manufacturers to establish unfair advantages for their operating system. The investigation didn't go very far, but it did culminate in a settlement that said Microsoft wouldn't tie products to the operating system in the future.
In May 1998, the US government and 20 states sued Microsoft with the same allegation - this time, surrounding their bundling of Internet Explorer with their Windows operating system. The hearings were contentious and even included the proposed breakup of Microsoft. By November 2001, Microsoft and the Dept of Justice reached an agreement that included opening the Windows application programming interface to competitors and establishing a panel to overseee their compliance with this rule. Not much, huh?
Don't think Microsoft has gotten away from anti-trust litigation just yet, though. In 2003, the EU stuck it to Microsoft in Microsoft Corp. v Commission of the European Communities which (years later) resulted in hundreds of millions in fines against the company for bundling Windows Media Player in a non-competitive way. More rulings along the same lines may be forthcoming.
Update: Dec 2009 - Microsoft and the EU settle on a "ballot box" feature to let end users select their browser.
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