M$ submits Windows 7 for anti-trust review

This news is amusing that M$ is required to submit Windows 7 for anti-
trust review but it also shows Vizta is indeed the equivalent of ME
and Windows 7 is farther along than M$ has been revealing. With XP SP3
just about ready for final release, it really decreases the need to
buy into the Vizta scheme. Even being under legal scrutiny hasn't
really dampened M$ heavy handed tactics but it is kind of funny they
have also had to submit Vizta for anti-trust review and they have been
caught trying to do the nasty a couple of times. Maybe Windows 7 won't
be totally screwed up like Vizta was, or at least runs as fast as XP.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206902650

Windows 7 Eyed For Antitrust Violations

The so-called Technical Committee recently received a build of Windows
7 from Microsoft and is checking it for any features that might
violate the federal antitrust agreement.
March 10, 2008

The court-mandated committee overseeing Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s
compliance with a federal antitrust settlement has commenced reviews
on the company's next major operating system to ensure it meets the
settlement's terms.

The so-called Technical Committee recently received a build of Windows
7 from Microsoft and is checking it for any features that might
violate the agreement. Presumably, most heavily under scrutiny is
whether the OS causes host computers to favor Microsoft applications
over third-party software -- a practice the federal government cited
in its original complaint against the company.

The Technical Committee's work was revealed in the most recent status
report on Microsoft's compliance with the 2002 antitrust settlement,
under which the company agreed to make its products interoperable with
those made by rivals. The report was filed last week in federal court
for the District of Columbia.

Microsoft to date has said little about Windows 7, which had been in
development under the code name Blackcomb. It's generally believed
that the OS will ship in the 2010 timeframe.

That's one year after the federal government's oversight of Microsoft
is now slated to expire. As a result, the Technical Committee is
trying to get its hands on as much Windows 7 code as it can as soon as
possible. "The TC has begun to review Windows 7 itself. Microsoft
recently supplied the TC with a build of Windows 7, and is discussing
TC testing going forward," the report stated.

"The TC will conduct middleware-related tests on future builds of
Windows 7," the report added.

The report also revealed that some tweaks to Windows Vista in the new
Service Pack 1 update include more than just fixes that Microsoft
thought were a good idea. In addition to patches that help make the
operating system more secure and stable, Vista SP1 also changes the OS
to bring it into compliance with the antitrust settlement.

For instance, Vista SP1 fixes two so-called browser overrides --
instances in which the software ignores user default preferences for
Web browsing. For example, SP1 eliminates overrides that occur when
users launch a Web browser from within Outlook Express or the Windows
Help Viewer.

The report noted that the Technical Committee is meeting with
independent software vendors "to ensure that middleware ISVs achieve
'Vista Readiness.'"