Vista Raises More Antitrust Issues for MS

A number of companies are in discussions with state and federal prosecutors in regard to antitrust concerns they have with Microsoft’s upcoming operating system (OS), Windows Vista, due for release later this year, The Seattle Times reports.

A number of officials from the Department of Justice and state attorneys general are currently mulling over the complaints to decide whether or not they’re legitimate, The Times reports.

One of the complaints was targeted at the “Welcome Center” feature of Vista, which greets users after they sign on to a new computer, The Times said.  The feature also includes pricey advertisements, for which Microsoft has bartered with a number of companies, including big shots like Hewlett-Packard.

Under the ever-watchful eye of antitrust regulators due to the highly-publicized 2004 European Commission antitrust ruling, Microsoft will need to be extremely weary of any features that could be seem like they were designed to push users toward Microsoft, or Microsoft-sanctioned, products.

For more recent Microsoft-related news, read EC Denies 2nd Microsoft Deadline Extension, MS: EU “Riding Roughshod” Over Its Defense, Microsoft Granted Extension for Fine-Proposal Reply, Microsoft Will Appeal EU Ruling in April and Microsoft to License Windows Source Code.

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