Microsoft said last night it would publish critical information so rival programs can work better with Windows, Office and other major products.
The world's largest software maker, faced with regulatory concerns in Europe and customers struggling with complex computer systems, will share the underlying technology that connects its software to other programs. This technology is considered a built-in advantage and has been the basis of antitrust scrutiny of the company.
Microsoft's new policies are seen as a way of heading off future battles with regulators in Europe, Asia and the United States who have long accused it of using its dominant position to move into new businesses and squeeze out competitors.
Microsoft said it published more than 30,000 pages of Windows documentation that had only been available previously with a trade secret licence, and it also pledged to license patents at low royalty rates and without discrimination.
Microsoft said it would follow up with more actions to address all the demands of European regulators, although the European Commission said yesterday's move did not resolve a key issue about how Microsoft's products are tied together and that Microsoft had made similar promises before.
Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, who called the financial impact from yesterday's shift "relatively minimal," acknowledged that Microsoft may lose some market share as a result of these policies but said what is good for customers will ultimately be good for the company.