HONG KONG (AFX) - The EU's top antitrust regulator has sent a letter to Microsoft warning the company that it will not be allowed to sell its new Windows Vista operating system in Europe if it comes prepackaged with certain features, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition, quoting EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes.
'We expect that Microsoft will design Vista in a way which is in line with the European competition laws,' Kroes was quoted as saying in an interview. 'It would be rather stupid to design something that is not.'
Kroes said she sent Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer a letter last week outlining her concerns, which mirror those in a continuing, seven-year-long dispute between the EU and Microsoft over software packaged with its current Windows operating system.
Microsoft spokesman Tom Brookes said the company was not aware of the March 20 letter and was therefore unable to comment on the EU's specific concerns. 'However, consumers are demanding a more secure, functional operating system. And Microsoft has developed Vista to respond to that demand, while respecting its legal responsibilities,' Brookes was quoted as saying.
The EU notice follows Microsoft's announcement last week that it would delay release of Vista until January because it needs more time to test the software.
Kroes's spokesman, Jonathan Todd, was quoted as saying that the EU is concerned about Microsoft's plans for Internet search.
Though Todd did not elaborate, Google Inc and other Internet-search services have said they are concerned that Microsoft could use its Internet Explorer 7 Web browser to unfairly direct computer users to Microsoft's own search service, the Journal noted.
EU regulators have also warned Microsoft against putting certain software-security functions into the Vista system, according to Todd.
In the interview, Kroes said she has not decided yet whether to open a new, formal investigation of Microsoft and the Vista system.
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© 2006 AFX News
