Microsoft to Offer Rivals Windows Source Code

Microsoft to offer rivals Windows source code

BRUSSELS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) — Software giant Microsoft said Wednesday it will license its Windows source code to comply with a European Union (EU) antitrust ruling.

The company will offer its rivals access to “the DNA of the Windows operating system” in a bid to comply with a 2004 EU order that it make its operating system compatible with software made by competitors, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said in Brussels.

Microsoft “will provide software developers the most precise and authoritative description possible” of all technologies that allow Windows server software to communicate with other programs, the Microsoft chief lawyer said.

The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, ruled in March 2004 that the U.S. software giant had abused its dominant position and ordered it to share its codes with rivals such as Linux.

Despite Microsoft’s appeal against the ruling, the EU regulators has kept mounting pressure on the company.

EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes threatened to impose a daily fine of 2 million euros on Microsoft if it failed to offer adequate information.