Microsoft barely scratched by EU decision

Microsoft source code will not give developers a free rein

Microsoft’s agreement to open up its operating system source code may not be as profound a change as initial reports suggested, say experts.

Last month Microsoft lost its appeal against the European Commission’s 2004 judgment that it was abusing its market dominance. It was ordered to give third parties access to its source code, to stop bundling Media Player software with Windows, and to pay a fine of E497m (£345m).

But according to last week’s deal with the EU, the company will still charge a one-off licensing fee of E10,000 (£7,000), so developers will not have a free rein.

And the fact that Microsoft has capitulated suggests it is not worried that its position will be compromised, said David Mitchell, analyst at Ovum.

“The market will carry on largely unchanged,” he said.

“Companies that were developing products will still continue to develop them. And firms that had previously rejected the Microsoft-related development route will still reject it.”

The changes do not even make available large amounts of previously restricted information, according to Mitchell.

“Microsoft could argue that the previous sets of documentation it provided were substantially complete, and that therefore it has been in substantive compliance with the ruling for some time,” he said.

But the changes do hint at a less dominant position for the world’s most successful software company, said Gartner analyst David Mitchell-Smith.

“Microsoft is not the power it was 10 years ago. It has to be more willing to work with other developers,” he said.