Microsoft says 'EU version' of Windows Vista a dud
Thursday, 24 May 2007
Company officials say no PC manufacturers have chosen to license the
special editions of its operating systems, which are available only in
Europe, that lack the Windows Media Player media playback software.
Google News
A senior Microsoft official said the company has had few takers for
modified versions of its Windows operating systems built to conform to
European competition requirements. David Heiner, Microsoft's deputy
general counsel, said "not a single PC manufacturer has chosen to
license" the special editions of its operating systems, which are
available only in Europe.
The software, Windows XP N and
Windows Vista N, lacks the Windows Media Player media playback
software, which ordinarily is integrated into Microsoft's operating
systems.
EU regulators ordered Microsoft to unbundle Media
Player from some versions of Windows available for sale in Europe after
charging that the bundling gave the company an unfair advantage over
media player products created by third-party developers.
Microsoft, however, was allowed to offer standard editions of Windows
for sale in Europe alongside the N editions, allowing consumers to
choose between the two.
Speaking in March to officials at the
US Federal Trade Commission, Heiner said European consumers have opted
en masse for the full versions of Windows. The N versions, he said,
"sit on the shelf."
"PC manufacturers and consumers in Europe
can now choose to get Windows with or without its media playback
functionality. They have chosen the full-featured version of Windows,
as might be expected," said Heiner, according to a transcript of his
remarks obtained by InformationWeek.
Heiner was speaking to FTC
officials to urge them to adopt anti-monopoly measures that promote
competition rather than restrict consumer choice.
He said
Microsoft's consent decree with monopoly watchdogs at the Department of
Justice is a good example of the former. As a result of the deal, he
said, "new Windows PCs come loaded up with software from Microsoft's
competitors" without limiting consumer access to Microsoft's own
products." By contrast, the EU's decision to order Microsoft to strip
out its own media player technology from some versions of Windows has
hurt both Microsoft and its European customers, Heiner said.
"Costs have been imposed, but there is little apparent benefit for anyone," he said.
Microsoft
continues to butt heads with European regulators over the prices it
charges to competitors for interoperability protocols for file and
print servers.
Microsoft last month dodged - at least
temporarily - European Union fines of up to US$4 million (A$4.8
million) per day by submitting an 11th-hour response to allegations
that it continues to overcharge rivals for the tools they need to make
their products compatible with the Windows operating system.
The
company told the EU that it needs "greater clarity on what prices the
commission wants us to charge" and called for more talks on the issue,
according to a statement released last month by the software maker.
In
his comments to the FTC, Heiner blasted the EU for inserting itself
into talks between Microsoft and third-party product manufacturers.
"Whether
firms choose to take a license, and what kind of products they build
with those licenses," Heiner said, "is of course entirely up to them
and outside the control of either Microsoft or any antitrust agency."
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