11th hour bid to halt XP

Four consumer groups in the US want this month's launch of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system to be delayed on the grounds of personal privacy and commercial exploitation.

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA), the Consumers Union, the Media Access Project and the US Public Interest Research Group have written to state and federal prosecutors urging them to consider imposing business sanctions on Microsoft.

They have also produced a report entitled Windows XP.Net, Microsoft's Expanding Monopoly, written by the CFA's director of research, Mark Cooper.

The report highlights areas of harm found by US courts to have resulted from Microsoft's business practices and which, it claims, will be continued by Windows XP.

The users are also concerned about privacy and commercial exploitation through the Passport single log-in technology. Users will require a Microsoft controlled Passport account, which records personal user data as part of its sign-up process, to use its Instant Messaging application and to access the Hotmail email service.

"Microsoft is creating a new basis of market power that would reside in the control of personal information," claims the report.

"Innovation is the crux of the case, but the real issue is whether innovation is driven by a vigorous competitive process or managed by a single, dominant firm that can choose to protect and promote its interest at the expense of consumers."

Microsoft has been under fire from user groups, legal officials and industry analysts over Windows XP. The company has been taken to task over the minimum system specification needed to run XP, the inclusion of its Smart Tag technology, and its role as a certification authority through Passport.

The company did partially concede to pressure by removing the Smart Tags feature, which would have given Microsoft the power to link to one website or service over another, though they remained in its Office XP product released in the summer.

Windows XP is due for worldwide release on 25 October.