Neelie Kroes, the EU’s Competition Commissioner, has written to Microsoft warning the firm to make sure that its new operating system, known as Vista, does not contain features that will place it in breach of EU antitrust laws.
The letter expresses concerns only, and does not indicate the launch of an investigation into the system.
"We are concerned about the possibility that Vista will include software elements which are available separately either sold by Microsoft or by other software companies," the Commissioner’s spokesman, Jonathan Todd said, according to the New York Times.
The Commission is also reportedly worried whether Microsoft would make sufficient disclosures to allow rival firms to make their products interoperable with Vista.
Microsoft’s Windows operating system was found in March 2004 to have broken competition rules by leveraging its near monopoly in the market for PC operating systems onto the markets for work group server operating systems and for media players.
The Commission imposed a fine, ordered Microsoft to offer an alternative stripped-down version of Windows, and ordered the firm to publish some of its interfaces, so that competitors could make their products interoperable with Windows.
A hearing in respect of Microsoft’s compliance with the interoperability provision of that ruling began today. The software giant is fighting a preliminary conclusion by the Commission that the documents supplied so far by the firm are inaccurate and incomplete. It has threatened to fine Microsoft up to €2 million a day for non-compliance.
As part of its evidence, Microsoft plans to submit statements from six tech firms who have signed up to a similar US interoperability program. The firms are expected to say that they have successfully used the US documentation to develop and release interoperable software products to the marketplace.
