Microsoft, Yahoo! Await Antitrust Scrutiny

Under a new administration, be it Democratic or Republican, the deal could receive even more scrutiny than is already expected.

Of course, the real action might take place overseas. The European Union's antitrust watchdog, the European Commission, is considered to take a tougher line in evaluating market competition. Last year, the EC ruled that Microsoft needs to make certain aspects of intellectual property available to other companies.

"The European antitrust regulators are likely to give it closer scrutiny and perhaps longer scrutiny," says Roxanne Polidora, the head of the antitrust practice at the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. "

Ultimately however, Polidora doesn't expect the deal to be blocked.

"Nobody can predict what they're ultimately going to do, but the general view of antitrust practitioners is that ultimately it will probably pass muster even with European regulators."