The consent decree approved by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in November includes provisions aimed at giving computer makers more freedom to feature non-Microsoft software on the machines they sell.

But Massachusetts told Kollar-Kotelly, in a filing posted on the court's Web site on Monday, that it was looking at whether the world's largest software maker had retaliated against a computer maker for promoting Linux (news - web sites), an alternative to Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Among other complaints being examined by Massachusetts was whether Microsoft had violated portions of the settlement prohibiting pacts requiring exclusive support of Microsoft software. Massachusetts was also examining whether the company had properly offered communications protocols allowing non-Microsoft software to work well with Windows.

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