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EC reviews Vista complaints

Published: 15 Feb 2006 16:25 GMT

The European Commission is keeping a close eye on Vista, to ensure that the new version of the Microsoft operating system complies with the principles established by its original antitrust ruling, the EC said on Wednesday.

"Several companies have expressed their concerns to the European Commission concerning Microsoft's Vista, but there are no formal complaints," the Commission told ZDNet UK. "The Commission is monitoring the situation, but there is no formal investigation."

The original antitrust ruling on 24 March 2004 demanded that Microsoft disclose information to rival makers of server software to enable their products to be interoperable with Windows, and that Microsoft also offers a version of Windows without Media Player. The Commission said it expects Microsoft to respect the principles established by this ruling when designing and implementing Vista.

Microsoft refused to comment on the Commission's remarks.

On Wednesday afternoon, Microsoft released a statement claiming that its response to the EC "provides clear evidence that Microsoft is in full compliance with technical documentation mandate.

"Microsoft has complied fully with the technical documentation requirements imposed by a 2004 European Commission decision, and the Commission has ignored critical evidence in its haste to attack the company's compliance," said Microsoft.

However, the EC later responded by suggesting that some of Microsoft's facts were incorrect.