Adobe CEO Threatens Microsoft with Potential Vista Lawsuit

Adobe Systems may still gun Microsoft over Windows Vista and portable document formats. But it all depends on the steps that the European Commission will take with the Redmond Company. Adobe Chief Executive Officer Bruce Chizen revealed the fact that potential legal action against Microsoft will ensue only in the context in which the European Antitrust Commission fails to prevent Microsoft from locking competitor software makers out of Vista.

Currently, Adobe Systems is collaborating with the EU Commission, but Chizen stated that Adobe is prepared for the alternative: legal action against Microsoft. Chizen revealed Adobe's options to Germany's Euro am Sonntag newspaper.

The Redmond Company has already released the Microsoft XML Paper Specification Essentials Pack 1.0 and has confirmed that it will introduce the XPS document format into Windows Vista. Microsoft's XPS document format rivals Adobe's PDF and is at the center of the dispute between the two companies. Following previous discussions with the European Commission, Microsoft has pledged to introduce changes in this aspect of Windows Vista.