Microsoft revealed changes in its next-generation operating system Windows Vista on Friday, allowing the company to keep its global launch date of November for corporate clients and January for the general public.

“Microsoft has been engaged in a constructive dialogue with the European Commission for the past several weeks about Windows Vista,” said Microsoft spokesperson Guy Esnouf in an email. “The Commission has provided guidance on their concerns with certain aspects of Windows Vista, and Microsoft has taken significant steps to respond to the Commission’s concerns.”

The company also revealed changes to Vista for release in South Korea on Friday after discussions between Microsoft and the South Korea Fair Trade Commission.

The Redmond technology giant, which holds about 90 percent of the operating system marketplace, announced changes in the areas of security, searches, and fixed document formats within Vista to satisfy the European Commission’s antitrust concerns.

Microsoft has had longstanding antitrust fines and troubles in the European Union regarding its Windows operating system. E.U. Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes stated last March that she had concerns about Vista as well (see EU Warns Microsoft on Vista).

“I think at the moment the commission will be a bit relaxed,” said Shomik Banerjee, an industry analyst with the research firm Frost & Sullivan in the United Kingdom. “However, in quarter two, the commission will have a closer look at the market, especially around the feeds or RSS alerts and in the PDF space.”

Microsoft said it has changed Vista’s search options so customers can choose to set up Internet Explorer 7 as a default search engine rather than have it ingrained in the operating system.

The software giant also agreed to submit its new fixed-layout document format on XML (extensible markup language) specifications to a standards-setting organization. Microsoft will also revise licensing terms regarding the XML specifications made available to other software developers.

Another area that has been revamped in Vista is the security center. Vista will now enable third-party security products to access Vista’s kernel in a secure manner and not be overpowered by Microsoft’s security center alerts.

Shares of Microsoft rose $0.25 to $28.47 in recent trading.

Staggered Changes

The alterations forestall some of the complaints voiced in recent months about how Vista would allow other applications to provide security and other features like portable document format files.

“What Microsoft is doing is asking customers to un-install already-available applications and then bring in new solutions,” said Mr. Banerjee. “It's a disincentive to go to another vendor.If you can PDF with a Microsoft solution already built in, why would you go for Adobe?”

The changes in Vista will also be staggered, said JupiterResearch senior analyst Joe Wilcox. Some changes, like the patch guard, will not show up until Service Pack 1 of Vista.

The standardization body will not happen right away either. Undoubtedly complaints will be raised again by competitors and the commission during this lapse in time.

The Redmond technology giant has not only been challenged by the European Commission and the Korean Fair Trade Commission, but also by individual software providers and ex-partners like Symantec.

Once a partner of Microsoft’s, Symantec turned into a competitor as security packages like Microsoft’s built-in firewall in Windows XP Service Pack 2 became standard.

The security software company met with Microsoft on Sunday to express concern over Vista’s bundled security package (see Redmond Security Push Challenged). The added security features ingrained in Vista could cause fatal blows to sales revenue for security software providers like Symantec and McAfee.

“Microsoft is trying to make some good base changes to get its OS out the door,” said Mr. Wilcox. “I expect there will continue to be complaints though.”

del.icio.us

Digg this

Slash it