And with one bound he was free - well almost. The unanimous finding of the US court of appeals this week lifted a cloud that had been hanging over Bill Gates and Microsoft. Not that the company will escape penalty for violations of competition law but a ruling that it be broken up has been set aside.

It says something for the dread with which Mr Gates and Microsoft executives viewed the punishment handed down by District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson that they were celebrating a victory which will almost certainly see them pay swingeing penalties. For all their bluster since the verdict, their relief after its overturning showed just how worried Microsoft was.

Of course, it is still open for the federal government and the individual states to take the software giant back through the courts in search of a repeat verdict but, with a Bush White House, this is seen as unlikely. The biggest loser is Judge Jackson, who was excoriated in the appeal court ruling for inappropriate behaviour in and around the trial.