New Vista operating system could break antitrust rules
Should we just move over to open source community?
Todd said regulators were worried that Vista's new functions would mean customers would not be offered a real choice on software packages.
"We're concerned about the possibility that the next Vista operating system will include various elements which are currently available separately either from Microsoft or other companies," he told reporters.
He highlighted Vista's integrated Internet search, digital rights management used to protect copyright and software that would create fixed document formats comparable to Adobe Systems Inc.'s pdf.
He said Kroes' letter to Ballmer came after Microsoft asked regulators to set out its concerns on Vista, stressing that it was not the start of any formal probe into the new operating system.
"We assume that Microsoft has its own interests at heart. It wants to launch another product without having to worry about the (European) Commission instituting various actions under antitrust law," he said. "The commission's concern is that computer manufacturers or consumers might be prevented from having a proper choice between different software packages."
Vista's ability to work with rival products also comes under EU scrutiny. "There is also the possibility that we won't have all the necessary technical information so that competitors will be able to make a product that is compatible with Vista," he said.
Any probe into Vista would be separate from Microsoft's ongoing legal challenge to a 2004 antitrust ruling and fine. That ruling found the company guilty of abusing antitrust rules by squeezing rival media players out of the market and holding back technical information that would help software developers make products that worked with Windows.
Microsoft announced last week that the consumer version of Vista will be delayed again, until early next year, further extending the long gap between major Windows releases. A version for large business customers is due out in November.
