A European Union court has ruled that Microsoft abused its near-monopoly on computer operating systems to push out rivals.
The EU's Court of First Instance (CFI) dismissed Microsoft 's appeal on all substantive points in the case, reversing the European Commission's decision only on the creation of a monitoring trustee to ensure implementation of one of the remedies.
"The Court of First Instance essentially upholds the commission's decision finding that Microsoft abused its dominant position," a court statement said.
The EU executive, which has wide-ranging antitrust and merger control powers, found in 2004 that Microsoft had used its 95 per cent share of the market in personal computer operating systems to damage smaller rivals.
It ordered the company to sell a version of its Windows platform without its Windows Media Player application, and to share key information with rivals that allowed their office servers to work smoothly with Windows.
The 13-judge Grand Chamber of the CFI in Luxembourg upheld the record €497 million ($689.9 million) fine imposed on Microsoft as part of the original decision.
The court ordered Microsoft to pay most of the costs including some incurred by its business rivals that had supported the commission's case. By contrast, Microsoft 's allies were forced to bear their own costs.
The ruling of the CFI on facts is final, but matters of law may be appealed to the European Union's highest court, the European Court of Justice.