The comments generated heated reaction at blogs and sites frequented by developers, such as Slashdot and Dave Winer's Scripting News.

Experts who spoke to Computerworld that Microsoft's market success built heavily on strong, open relationships with software developers writing for Windows and other platforms. At the same time, those relationships can sour when Microsoft decides to offer its own software in direct competition with its now-embittered software partners.

In his e-mail, Plamondon wrote that "no company has ever created such a supportive environment for independent developers [than] Microsoft has -- because no other company ever recognized the overwhelming importance of independent developers to its own success." He offered a quote from 17th-century, free-markets philosopher Adam Smith: "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest." That philosophy, he said, permeated Microsoft's policy toward independent software vendors.

Plamondon's e-mail did not mention comments he also made that attracting developers relied on tactics similar to convincing someone to have a "one-night stand."

Complete transcripts of testimony have been posted online by the plaintiffs in the Iowa case. They allege that Iowa consumers overpaid for Microsoft software as a result of the company's anticompetitive practices and are seeking up to US$330 million in damages from Microsoft.