European Commission fines levied against Microsoft won’t affect the launch of Windows Vista, the head of the software maker’s Japanese unit said Thursday.On Wednesday, the European Commission fined Microsoft 280.5 million euros (US$357 million) for failing to comply with the terms of a March 2004 antitrust judgment against it. As part of the judgment, the company was ordered to provide competitors with technical details of communication protocols used by its server products. The fine was imposed to punish Microsoft for failing to do so in a timely manner.“What the E.U. wanted was not that specific until April. We agreed to a set of milestones and we’re hitting those milestones, but the last milestone is a week or so away,” said Darren Huston, president and chief executive officer of Microsoft’s Japanese unit, Microsoft Co. Ltd. Darren Huston The fine will not impact the launch schedule for Windows Vista, Huston said at a news conference Thursday. The company’s new operating system is scheduled to be available through volume licensing in November and through retail to consumers in early 2007. The OS is already in beta testing. At this stage, the biggest threat to the schedule would come from a beta tester finding a serious problem in the software that would require significant amounts of work, Huston said. However, as the release date approaches, the probability of finding such a flaw decreases because it would likely have been caught already, he said.-Martyn Williams, IDG News Service (Tokyo Bureau) Related Links: Microsoft Hit With $357M E.U. Fine Gates: 80% Chance Vista Will Launch in Jan.This article is posted on our Microsoft Informer page. For more news on the Redmond, Wash.-based powerhouse, keep checking in.Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content News Amazon to lay off 9,000 more workers, including some at AWS The latest round of Amazon layoffs will impact AWS, Twitch, advertising and PXT, CEO Andy Jassy said. By Jon Gold Mar 20, 2023 3 mins Technology Industry Cloud Computing BrandPost What’s next for network operations Broadcom: 2023 Tech Trends That Transform IT By Serge Lucio, Vice President and General Manager, Agile Operations Division Mar 20, 2023 8 mins IT Leadership Networking BrandPost Digital transformation obstacles: Stubborn challenges, what to do about them Value Stream Management is an increasingly essential approach to strategic transformation initiatives. To help teams more fully capitalize on the opportunities it presents, Broadcom is holding its third annual VSM Summit. By Marla Schimke, Head of Product and Growth Marketing, Broadcom's Enterprise Software Division Mar 20, 2023 3 mins Devops Software Development Feature CEO directives: Top 5 initiatives for IT leaders As organizations change course with economic gyrations, collaboration between IT and business becomes priority No. 1 for CEOs. By Stacy Collett Mar 20, 2023 7 mins IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe