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March 1, 2006

Microsoft confirms European version of Vista

Microsoft Corp's European president said yesterday the company would build a separate version of its forthcoming Windows Vista operating system without media player capabilities in order to comply with a European Commission order, according to reports.

By CBR Staff Writer

Neil Holloway, Microsoft president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, made his comments at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit.

Will there be a version that is specific for the European Union? Yes, there has to be, said Holloway, according to a Reuters report.

Holloway declined to comment on whether there would be multiple versions of Vista released in Europe. We are still working through that. I don’t know if it will one or six or five, Holloway told reporters.

The company recently announced it would release six different non-EU versions of the operating system later this year.

In 2004, the European Commission ruled that Microsoft competed illegally in the market using its Windows OS. Microsoft was fined about $593.6m.

The Commission also ordered Microsoft to sell a version of Windows with no audio-visual software, which would enable OEMs to sell machines with media players other than Windows.

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