When Push Comes To Shove: Microsoft's EU Proposals
Microsoft has promised the European Commission a "significant change" in attitude and publishes its proposal for the marketing of Internet Explorer in Windows 7. Additionally there's news regarding the GPL publishings.
Microsoft's idea: European versions of Windows 7 PCs are to be completely furnished with Internet Explorer but will, via a "ballot screen", contain the option of installing an alternative browser. The proposal has been announced by Microsoft lawyer and Senior Vice President Brad Smith on the company website, along with a detailed explanation of how Microsoft will meet the demands of the European Competitions Commission regarding IE and interoperability. With Windows 7 due in shops across the continent in October, Microsoft has been shipping Explorer-free versions of the new software since June.
While the EU wasn''t completely convinced with this first attempt, Smith says this might soon change, "We believe that if ultimately accepted, this proposal will fully address the European competition law issues relating to the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows." With reference to interoperability of Microsoft with third-party software, the lawyer draws attention to a public announcement last year, explaining who's to be thanked for the change in strategy; "Like the Internet Explorer proposal, the interoperability measures we are offering involve significant change by Microsoft. They build on the Interoperability Principles announced by Microsoft in February 2008, which were also based on extensive discussions with the Commission."
Meanwhile, Sam Ramji, responsible for interoperability at MS, denies that outside influence had anything to do with the recent release of code. After Microsoft placed the virtualization code Hyper-V under GPL, various sources reported infringements of GPL rules, which Ramji in his blog contradicts, saying, "Microsoft chose the GPLv2 license for the mutual benefit of our customers, partners, the community, and Microsoft."
Issue 161/2014
Buy this issue as a PDF
Digital Issue: Price $9.99
(incl. VAT)
Tag Cloud
News
-
Munich Adopts Kolab
The Bavarian capital shuns Microsoft, Google, and other alternatives to implement an open-source groupware solution.
-
Canonical Announces Ubuntu Smartphones
Phone vendor partnerships bring Mark Shuttleworth's dream of Ubuntu on a phone a step closer to reality.
-
Piviti Seeks Funding
Donors will get to vote on new features for the free video editor.
-
Debian Tech Committee Votes for systemd
Debian project puts init out to pasture and says no to Ubuntu's Upstart.
-
The Mask: Scary New Face of Internet Intrusion
Ultra-sophisticated attack tool might have originated from a state-sponsored intelligence service.
-
Epoch 1.0 Released
New alternative for init comes with a small footprint and minimal configuration.
-
Wayland 1.4 Challenges X11
X marks the target for the next-generation windowing system.
-
Red Hat Adopts CentOS
Super-clone CentOS Linux gets beamed up to the mother ship.
-
W3C Promotes Media Source Extensions
HTML technology will enable new video editing and playback options.
-
Valve Announces SteamOS Beta
New Linux distro is optimzed for gaming.