On 6 June 2005, the Commission announced a decision to market test Microsoft's new proposal, meaning Microsoft competitors on the server market will have a chance to obtain interface information from the company - in some cases royalty-free. On the grounds of this experience, the Commission will decide in two weeks time whether to take any further action or to change the terms of the agreement reached with Microsoft.
This also means that the Commission has, at least for the time being, dropped its threat to fine Microsoft up to five million US dollars a day. It has also not followed the request of Microsoft competitor RealNetworks to oblige Microsoft to sell versions of the Windows XP operating system without Microsoft's MediaPlayer software at a lower price than the present versions, which include the Multimedia appliance.
The Microsoft proposal contains different packages of information that other makers of server software can choose from, and also a range of packages where this information can be obtained without paying royalties.
