A coalition of rivals claimed today that Microsoft's new Vista operating system will perpetuate practices found illegal in the European Union nearly three years ago.
The European Commission found in 2004 that Microsoft used its dominance to muscle out Realnetworks and other makers of audio and video streaming software and that it made its desktop Windows deliberately incompatible with rivals' server software.
"Microsoft has clearly chosen to ignore the fundamental principles of the Commission's March 2004 decision," said Simon Awde, chairman of the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS).
The group of complainants includes IBM, Nokia, Sun Microsystems, Adobe, Corel, Oracle, Realnetworks, Red Hat, Linspire and Opera.
The commission said it was studying the complaint. Microsoft's new Vista operating system is due for formal release on Tuesday.
Microsoft last night posted a 28 per cent drop in fiscal second-quarter earnings as it deferred more than $1 billion in net income related to the delayed launch of its Windows Vista operating system and Office 2007 software.
Those businesses account for most of its profit, and investors expect the new products to drive sales and earnings in the coming quarters.
Microsoft's quarterly profit beat Wall Street expectations, driven by sales of server software and Xbox 360 game consoles, and the company raised its full-year profit target.