As expected, on June 7, 2000, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson approved the Department of Justice proposal to split the world's biggest software company into two entities. The company, of course, has announced it will appeal the decision, although they do not support Judge Jackson's intention to expedite the appeal process directly to the Supreme Court. The company would rather first move the case to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which previously overturned one of Jackson's decisions. Even if the case does move directly to the highest court, a final decision is unlikely before at least a year from now. While the breakup would not take effect until then (assuming the decision is upheld), the conduct remedies imposed by Judge Jackson will take effect in September. These bar Microsoft from withholding licensing terms, sales, or technical support from competing products; prevent them from forcing computer manufacturers to add other Microsoft products as a condition of licensing Windows; and force the company to provide the same licensing terms to all manufacturers. Microsoft's reaction has been posted at the company's trial news site.