RSSLonghorn Eyed for Antitrust Violations
By David Worthington and Nate Mook | Published January 27, 2005, 6:15 PM
Earlier this week, the technical committee that monitors Microsoft's compliance to its landmark antitrust settlement filed a semiannual status report that reveals Longhorn -- the next iteration of Windows -- is being kept under the watchful eye of the group.
The committee, which includes state regulators and the U.S. Department of Justice, has been closely monitoring Longhorn's development for the past two years. The report indicates concern over Microsoft's compliance with the terms of the settlement prior to Longhorn's eventual release.
A Microsoft spokesperson responded to the report, noting to BetaNews that Longhorn is still in "early" development and welcomed additional oversight.
"All development at Microsoft is done with full consideration and understanding of our obligations and commitment under the consent decree and final judgments," the spokesperson said. "We think it's important to be working closely and openly with the DOJ and states early in the Longhorn development process to address any questions and concerns now."
But Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox questioned how Redmond would handle an investigation by the government. "I wonder how Microsoft is going to tell the DOJ about Longhorn when the company doesn't seem to know yet," Wilcox remarked to BetaNews.
"Remember that Microsoft already chucked some features, and there is some uncertainty whether Microsoft has even decided how many versions to ship. It seems many development decisions are yet to made, and I found that surprising given where I would expect progress to be."
Other concerns raised in the report make mention of Windows XP Service Pack 2 and the sweeping changes Microsoft has made to the way Windows handles middleware from third-party vendors. The committee is investigating the possibility that the settlement does not grant Microsoft the absolution that it needed in order to develop SP2 according to its designs.
The report is the first sign of life among regulators on the western side of the Atlantic since Microsoft reached a settlement with U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of state governments in 2001.
Across the ocean, Microsoft is on track to ship a special version of Windows that does not include Windows Media Player. The release comes as a consequence of Microsoft's decision not to appeal an interim court ruling in the European Union.
'A Microsoft spokesperson responded to the report, noting to BetaNews that Longhorn is still in "early" development and welcomed additional oversight.'
Wrong spelling! "noting", I think it's "nothing"...
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|it is noting or maybe you are not good at english besides who comments just to attempt to note a spelling error? get a life please
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|Noting as in " making a note" dumba**.
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|With Republicans in office i doubt MS is going to have any more problems out of the Government any time soon.
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|If you'd quit sueing MS for writing their own software, perhaps Office Pro might be cheaper...I mean...%$#@!I'm too angry to comment
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|Actually, stop suing them and the cost will probably double. Especially as their monopolistic grip (oops, they aren't a monopoly, we have hundreds of different operating systems we can choose from, all software works perfectly with all operating systems and all hardware made works perfectly with all operating systems right? so how can they be a monopoly)grows and choices diminish. And, as a bonus, the stuff won't work right until you install at least 2 patches over the next 4 years. If they would make a better product at a fair price and would stop trying to squash competition through oppresive licensing schemes they wouldn't have this problem in the first place. Just my opinion of course.
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|As I understand it the rediculous prices are to do with Microsoft's greed as much as anything.
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|So you're asking Microsoft to stop being compatible because they got too good at it? Or perhaps Microsoft should wait until the other OS caught up? Or wait, tell Microsoft to stop making an OS that every other programmer chooses to use?
The "monopoly" thingy is pissing me off. It's out of MS' control. A monopoly is when you CANNOT chose. Use Linux, by all mean.. it's a GREAT OS. But it just doesn't cut it for desktops right now. So who do you blame? Microsoft.. Seriously.
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|I agree, Get off the Monopoly bit. Or the Anti-Trust Bit. This happens when a company produces a popular product that is easy to use. The operating system is fine until you load other software companies driver, applications or utilities into it. Just like Linux, OS/2, Netware, Unix, MacOS or any other OS. All software becomes less stable when different groups develop it. If you want a "Perfect" Operating System from a "Perfect" Company, your are not going to get one. Ideals of perfection are just that an Ideal. Nothing in Existence is perfect. We just happen to live in a society where people can sue over anything.
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|Microsoft is where they are in the marketplace because they made a good OS. They nearly invented the OS, as far as the private consumer is concerned. Is it perfect? No. Then again, what is? There is always Linux for those who simply cannot bear to have Windows on their box, or perhaps critics can begin authoring their very own OS, as they are so sure of what a good OS should be... they may even reach the level of quality & functionality even the buggiest, unpatched version of XP sometime before my unborn grandchildren have children, if they work at it. But I won't hold my breath.
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|Windows Version 1.0 used to be open source, well maintained, and even more secure than UNIX. What happened?
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|What happened? Greed to say is simply. Maybe just enough to live and save a bit back for a rainy day, but as more and more people came to like the way Winodws worked and how little any of them wanted to go back to the DOS-like day it wasn't far away from being turned into something to profit and the greed just kept growing.
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|and here all this time I thought we were being told that the reason software was so costly was because of software piracy... dang, I really should keep better track of what the current rhetoric is :)
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|history lesson dumba**.. IBM and bill gates jointly created the home pc os in a gui form. all bill ghates had was a questionably obtained version of dos 3.x (which someone else developped not him)
Noone really expects perfection... simply stability and for ms to stop leaving all those back doors in there that hackers easily find and exploit (why DO they leave them in... hmmmm what reason would they have of leaving in soooo many back doors)
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|Actually eunichman, from memory it was actually Apple with the first GUI on a PC - borrowing the 'mouse' idea from Xerox?
And as for the monopolistic argument - Microsoft is crossing the line when it starts buying the competition. Sure, make a good OS that works with everything (hey, with that much money they'd want it to), but when Microsoft buys out any threats, we really ARE missing out on some choices. I can't complain though - I use XP on all my boxes. Nothing else will play my games, so I don't have a choice :)
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|While it was true that apple did create the first GUI OS, I should have worded it "for the mainstream home pc market". Apple never did and never will have the status of "mainstream home pc market". I stand corrected on my incomplete posting :)
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