WSJ.com - Software Makers Complain to EU Over Microsoft's New Vista System BRUSSELS -- Two U.S. software makers are lobbying European Union regulators for action against Microsoft Corp.'s next-generation Windows computer operating system, slated for release to corporate customers in November.
Adobe Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif., has told regulators that Microsoft should be prohibited from building free competing software for reading and creating electronic documents into the operating system, called Vista, according to people familiar with the situation.
Meanwhile, officials from antivirus-software maker Symantec Corp. plan to travel to Brussels next week to brief journalists about Vista features that the Cupertino, Calif., company has told EU regulators will undercut rival computer-security-software makers. The briefings are intended to combat a similar public-relations effort by Microsoft, said a Symantec spokesman, Cris Paden.
[Neelie Kroes]
At a Sept. 12 briefing, Erich Andersen, Microsoft's general counsel for Europe, said any regulatory action requiring changes in Vista's design could "increase security risks for European consumers" by making them more vulnerable to malicious attacks through the Internet, something that Symantec contests.
EU antitrust chief Neelie Kroes has warned Microsoft not to design the new version of Windows, which runs more than 90% of the world's personal computers, in ways that would put rival software companies at a competitive disadvantage. The EU fined Microsoft €497 million, or more than $600 million, for antitrust violations related to its earlier versions of Windows in 2004. In July, Ms. Kroes imposed an additional penalty of €280.5 million against Microsoft for defying orders to change its business practices. The company is appealing both fines.
"Our goal is to deliver a fully innovative, secure version of Windows Vista that is compliant with EU law," said Tom Brookes, a spokesman for Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash. However, Adobe and Symantec have told EU regulators that Vista has put them squarely in Microsoft's cross hairs.
Symantec is concerned that Vista will direct consumers toward a Microsoft-designed security console, or box that shows what level various security functions, such as an Internet firewall, are set on. The rival company wants to be able automatically to override the Microsoft template with its own design and features, as it has been allowed to do in the past.
Also, Microsoft has a new feature, called PatchGuard, designed to protect the core of its operating system from hacking. But Symantec's Mr. Paden said the design has been changed from previous Windows versions to prevent security-software companies from accessing this crucial part of the system to update computers against security threats.
Adobe is objecting to Microsoft's inclusion in Vista of its own software for creating and viewing digital snapshots of documents, known as XML Paper Specification, or XPS. XPS competes with Adobe's widely used portable document format, or PDF.
While Adobe earns money by selling its Acrobat software to create PDF documents (while giving away the software to read such documents), Microsoft will include both reading and writing software as part of Vista for no extra charge. That could erode Adobe's sales. An Adobe spokeswoman declined to comment.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer wrote to Ms. Kroes in the spring and asked if she wanted Microsoft to remove its XPS electronic-document software from Vista, said Mr. Brookes, the Microsoft spokesman. Ms. Kroes didn't respond, Mr. Brookes added.
A spokesman for Ms. Kroes, Jonathan Todd, said: "The commission has been giving guidance to Microsoft for over a year. But ultimately it is for Microsoft to decide how they package and sell Vista." He added that regulators could take no action until Vista was on the market.
I really want to focus on this little blurb though:
"Adobe and Symantec are lobbying EU regulators for action against Vista, the Wall Street Journal reports. Adobe is calling for Microsoft to be barred from building into the OS free software that competes with Acrobat. From the article: 'Adobe and Symantec have told EU regulators that Vista has put them squarely in Microsoft's cross hairs. Symantec is concerned that Vista will direct consumers toward a Microsoft-designed security console, or box that shows what level various security functions, such as an Internet firewall, are set on. The rival company wants to be able automatically to override the Microsoft template with its own design and features, as it has been allowed to do in the past.'"
Basically, I'm with Microsoft here. I think, if they want to include their own version of something with their operating system software.. they should be able to.
I never understood what the problem was with them bundling their own software with .. well, their own software. It's their operating system, and they should be able to include what they want with it.
It would be like Toyota controlling too much market share, and requiring them to install another brand's parts in their car to allow them a "leg up" into the market. It just makes no sense.
While I dislike a lot of the stuff Microsoft does decide to do (like my thread about their new version of Media Player indicates), most of that anger is directed at consumers too stupid or who don't care enough to let the companies know that it's not what they want...
and, I think the same thing applies here. If people want to use Microsoft products because they're easier to access, so be it. If Microsoft controls so much market share and people don't want to explore alternatives, that's their perogative as well as far as I'm concerned.
I was going to post this in
The Lab, but I wanted to hear some more of the economics / business side from you guys rather than the technical details relating to the software.
09-21-2006, 04:32 PM
