Neuer Microsoft-Fall?[en] 

At the hearing, which takes place behind closed doors in Brussels on 30 and 31 March, Microsoft will try to learn from the Commission how to completely comply with the March 2004 antitrust ruling against the company, which concerns the present and former versions of the Windows operating system. 

Based on the outcome of the hearing the Commission will decide whether it will impose daily fines on Microsoft of up to 2 million euro, dating back to 15 December 2005.

The Commission stressed that the letter that Ms Kroes sent to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was in reaction to a request from Microsoft itself to point out possible problems with the Vista version of Windows, likely to hit the market early in 2007. 

In its letter, the Commission points out four features of Vista that may cause competition problems for various reasons: The integration of so-called digital rights management technology, the creation of new proprietary file formats which could exclude access by competitors, the integration of internet search into the Windows desktop and a new security feature, called Windows defender, which would prevent the execution of non-authorised code like for instance spy-ware. 

"[Microsoft] wants to launch another product without having to worry about the Commission instituting various actions under antitrust law," Commissioner Kroes' spokesman Jonathan Todd told reporters. In an interview published in the Wall Street Journal, Ms Kroes herself added: "We expect that Microsoft will design Vista in a way which is in line with the European competition laws. It would be rather stupid to design something that is not." 

Microsoft says removing these features would amke Windows Vista more vulnerable to attacks: "Microsoft is building Windows Vista to provide the most secure personal computing environment and to provide unprecedented opportunities for other companies throughout the industry." Horacio Gutierrez, the company's top lawyer in Europe, was quoted by the International Herald Tribune  as saying: "Forcing the company to sell Vista without Windows Defender is a bit like forcing BMW to sell cars without airbags."