Brussels takes issue with Windows 8

Brussels is investigating allegations that Microsoft’s flagship Windows 8 operating system will unlawfully stifle competition, resurrecting the antitrust troubles that tormented the US group for more than a decade.

Joaquín Almunia, the European Union’s competition commissioner, threatened the US software giant with “severe” penalties for flouting a 2009 antitrust settlement that required it to offer consumers a choice of web browsers. But, according to officials involved, the European Commission’s formal investigation goes beyond this compliance matter to cover allegations about Windows 8, the forthcoming system that marks Microsoft’s attempt to fight back against Apple in the tablet market. The probe is examining whether Microsoft unfairly favors its own in-house browser Internet Explorer, through discouraging PC makers from making rival browsers the default in Windows 8 and blocking non-default browsers from access to the interface. In addition, the commission is examining claims that Microsoft stifles competition by only allowing Internet Explorer to be installed on tablet devices running its version of Windows 8 on low-power ARM processors.