Break up Microsoft? (Letter to the Editor)

To the Editor:

Of course Paul Krugman is right, that, along with the loss of a uniform standard that allows many kinds of software to interact freely, a Microsoft breakup risks increasing prices ("Microsoft: What Next?", column, April 26). But that's precisely why so many Microsoft rivals favor it.

If a Microsoft breakup were truly expected to lower prices in the computer industry, that would hurt rivals' shareholders, and it's doubtful they would endorse such a move.