Microsoft faces huge fine, forced to re-build Windows XP by EU


A BREAKDOWN in negotiations between the European Union and Microsoft is likely to mean punishment for the Redmond Vole.
A report on Reuters claims that a draft decision to punish Microsoft will be passed tomorrow.

It suggests Microsoft will be made to share code with other makers of software for servers, and to create a version of Windows XP, without Media Player 9 included.

And Microsoft is also likely to have to pay hundreds of millions of Euros when the EU committee meets later on this month.

If the report turns out to be correct, the move will cause a great deal of confusion in the channel - coping with the different flavours of Microsoft software is already difficult enough. Another version of Windows XP will just compound channel misery



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The INQ!

Exactly. Microsoft is forced to do that.
The task doesn't seem to be that easier. Internet Explorer 6 includes a feature called Media, which shares WMP Dynamic Link Libraries. I am afraid that Microsoft will have to remove that feature as well.

By the way, I am really disappointed at the situation which Microsoft has faced. They don't grab your hands, give you a Windows Copy and force you to use it, do they? Majority of people are using Windows because majority of the people are buying it. I fail to understand how that becomes Microsoft's fault.

If Microsoft broke the law, they should face punishment. I have used many Microsoft products over the years and have generally been pretty satisfied, but they have bullied other companies too many times. I have no sympathy at all for them. If Microsoft were to dissolve tomorrow, another company would take their place and life would go on.

MNKid

True, but this is not about bullying here. Face punishment for what? Including IE in the OS? Having everything integrated into the OS?

This is about making MS open their code so that other companies can take a look at it. Microsoft has purposefully left their API's undocumented which I suppose is wrong. IMO, that may be a just reason, but still lately I have been feeling that getting MS to open code has been a huge red herring to punish MS for just being popular. I don't see any reason why any company should be forced to open proprietary code unless it has been proven to cause unfair competition and quite frankly, I have never seen this with Windows. I don't see how having IE as part of the OS is unfair competition or any of the other idiotic claims.

I don't think MS should force OEM's to bundle Windows with a new PC either, but truthfully, I don't believe that is the big issue here because I bet 95% of users are probably happy if they get the OS bundled. They want a new Dell with Windows XP already installed with a restore disk so that all they have to do is plug in and go. None of this has anything to do with the home PC market. It is about company X, Y, and Z against Microsoft and the consumer is stuck in the crossfire.

Like I have always said, Microsoft is damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Microsoft would take a huge loss, but it would stabilize after a couple of years, but they should just take their ball and go home, stop selling their products in the EU, they can't be forced to export if they don't want to. Might seem a little harsh but why not?

I mean, could you imagine? Microsoft has suffered a huge loss in the EU and in order to absorb this loss Microsoft has decided to cease all operations in the EU, this will be effective immediatley. All Microsft representatives will be recalled and all support channels will return to areas outside the EU, we have never offered a lifetime of support for our products, and as of now do not feel obligated to support those products. Certainly there has to be a company that can fill our shoes without our product.
This would never happen, but ultimately we are the ones going to end up paying any fines thru price increases, thats what happened here when all those states sued.