EU questions could cripple Vista in Europe

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Microsoft has said that the launch of Vista could be seriously delayed after EU objections to the software and any version that is released could have its security severely compromised.

The situation began when the EU sent a series of questions to Redmond about aspects of the planned operating system. Microsoft sent a response and got a series of 80 further questions back in July, regarding specific aspects of Vista, in particular the security tools built in.

"As far as we're concerned Vista's done," Ben Fathi, corporate vice president of Microsoft's security technology unit told IT PRO.

"If we have to make any changes at this stage and release a less secure version I'd be very worried."

The heart of the EU's complaints seem to be around features like Microsoft's firewall, as the EU feels it could be anti-competitive by hurting sales of products from other security companies. The majority of these features can be disabled, but two - kernel protection and the security centre - are always on.

Fathi said that Microsoft was "eagerly awaiting" any proposals from the EU regarding the software but last week was told that it was not for the EU to design software, merely to see if it was lawful.

This is the latest chapter in an increasingly turbulent relationship between the EU and Microsoft. Two years ago the software company was fined over €400 million over its bundling of Windows Media Player and insisted that the company product a European version without Media Player included.

Last week Microsoft hinted that the Eu might be forcing a delay but the company is now ramping up the pressure as the launch date gets closer.

For opinion on this case read Iain Thomson's blog.

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