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Recent media attention has focussed on the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows, but there is another outstanding matter involving the software giant.
A complaint from the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) alleges that Microsoft does not provide adequate information about Office and other products to allow other vendors to create interoperable software.
According to various reports (many of which appear to have their roots in a Bloomberg story), Microsoft has resumed talks with the EU with the intention of settling both issues before Neelie Kroes completes her term as competition commissioner in November.
Earlier this year, the EC made a preliminary ruling that Microsoft was abusing its dominant position in the PC operating system by including Internet Explorer with Windows and by not complying with web standards.
Microsoft's response was to announce the removal of Internet Explorer from versions of Windows 7 to be sold in Europe, but the EC has expressed the opinion that this will reduce rather than increase customer choice.
The EC's preferred approach is a so-called 'ballot screen' giving a choice of browsers when Windows is started for the first time.
The Commission is more concerned about OEM sales, as 95 percent of consumers acquire Windows pre-installed on a PC. While it felt Microsoft's plan "may potentially be more positive" in this context, the EC has yet to decide whether this "would in itself be sufficient to create genuine consumer choice on the web browser market."
The other case concerns Microsoft's provision of adequate documentation to allow other developers to create software that is interoperable with Word and other Microsoft applications.
The membership list of complainant ECIS includes Adobe, Corel, IBM, Nokia, Opera, Oracle, RealNetworks, Red Hat, and Sun Microsystems.
