May 20, 1998

Employees and former employees of Microsoft Corp in Seattle suburb of Redmond, site of Microsoft headquarters, feel no immediate threat from Justice Department's antitrust suit against Microsoft; dominant view is that Microsoft will fight department because fighting--and winning--is what Microsoft does best; Microsoft has produced half-dozen billionaires and more than 2,000 millionaires; some Redmond residents comment; photo (L)

DuPont to Buy Out Merck In Joint Drug Venture DuPont will pay Merck $2.6 billion for its half of DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical, the joint venture they formed in 1991. Analysts were surprised. They had been speculating about what DuPont would do with the $5 billion it is expected to receive from selling 20 percent of its oil unit, Conoco, in a deal announced last week. [Page D5.]

Amanda Hesser, in third of six reports from Paris and the provinces, comments on French devotion to cheeses made from raw milk, and intense opposition in some quarters to various proposals to require that all cheese be pasteurized; photo of French cheese ripener; map (M)

United Yellow Cab Drivers Assn, which pledged to tie up traffic for hours in Manhattan with slow-moving cavaclade of yellow taxis to protest new regulations by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, calls off demonstration after nearly week of unrelenting pressure from City Hall, while rival group urges repeat of 24-hour strike staged week ago; Assn spokesman, Vijay Bali, says move follows assurances from City Councilman Noach Dear of meeting with Giuliani; Mayor, who threatened to seize medallions and hack licenses of any drivers involved in protest, has refused to meet with organizers; spokesman says he may do so only if no protests are held; standoff was sparked by new regulations, which would raise insurance rates and stiffen penalties on drivers for traffic violations, in response to sharp increase in number of accidents involving taxicabs; drivers complain proposals will punish good drivers along with bad, and that they were given no role in drafting them (M)

Frank J Prial Wine Talk column on merlot, which has now become wine of the moment; notes Union Square Cafe in Manhattan stocks 16 merlots, and demand for them is unremitting; photo of Dan Duckhorn, owner of Duckhorn Vineyards in Napa Valley, who helped make merlot grape popular (M)