Windows 7: EU to pursue antitrust case, despite Windows 7 E

. IE may well be included in the OS, but you are under no obligation to use it.

UPDATE: June 11, 2009 – 5:30 p.m. Pacific
Posted by Dave Heiner
Vice President and Deputy General Counsel


Earlier today CNET reported that Microsoft had sent a memo to computer manufacturers and retailers about our plans for Windows 7 in Europe. We’re getting quite a few calls on this, so we thought it would be helpful to explain our plans.
First, a little context. For the past three years Microsoft has been working to develop the next version of our Windows operating system, Windows 7. We’ve taken feedback from literally millions of beta customers to ensure that Windows 7 delivers the power, simplicity and ease-of-use that customers want. We’ve also worked hard to ensure that Windows 7 will promote choice and competition in the computer industry, in keeping with our Windows Principles. We’ve held hands-on workshops with hundreds of industry partners to ensure they have the information they need to build products that work well with Windows 7. Customers running Windows 7 will be able to choose compatible products from among literally thousands of computer manufacturers, peripheral manufacturers, and software vendors.
The worldwide launch of Windows 7 is fast approaching, but a pending legal case raises concerns about the sufficiency of competition among the Web browsers that are available to Windows users in Europe. In January the European Commission provided its preliminary view that Microsoft’s “bundling” of Internet Explorer in Windows violated European competition law.

In late 2007 a European browser vendor filed a complaint with the Commission arguing that the reasoning of the WMP case should be applied to Web browsing software as well. We disagreed, but concluded that the most prudent course was to try to address any concerns before releasing Windows 7. Therefore, in September 2008, we told computer manufacturers that we would offer Windows 7 in Europe in two versions, following the approach of the Commission’s 2004 decision: one version with all features included and another version without certain programs (Internet Explorer 8 and WMP). Computer manufacturers could choose either version.
In January 2009 the Commission sent Microsoft a “Statement of Objections.” In it the Commission advised Microsoft of its preliminary view that the inclusion of Web browsing software in Windows violates European competition law. The Commission said in this document that it intends to impose a fine for this. The Commission also said that, with hindsight, the remedy adopted in its 2004 decision was not effective because there was very limited consumer demand for the versions of Windows without media player. We were, of course, disappointed to learn that the approach we took in September 2008 would not adequately address the Commission’s concerns.

Hey all.

What does FFS stand for....?