Microsoft Serves Build of Windows 7 for Antitrust Flavor Testing

Microsoft's next iteration of the Windows operating system, and the successor of Windows Vista, is in the very early stages of cooking, but still, the platform is out and about. First off, the Redmond company offered Windows 7 Milestone 1 to its close partners in the beginning of January. At that time, even though Microsoft confirmed the existence of Windows 7, it only pointed out that the product was in planning. And yet, not only a select number of Microsoft partners got to play with Windows 7, but also antitrust regulators.

Windows 7 is already being dissected for antitrust violations, according to InformationWeek. Microsoft served a build of Windows 7 to regulators for antitrust flavor testing. Under an antitrust settlement dating back to 2002, the Redmond company has to comply with the court's decisions and be reviewed by a court-mandated committee. The Technical Committee overseeing Microsoft debuted the evaluation of the next version of the Windows client in order to ensure that it complies with the 2002 ruling from the get-go.

"The TC has begun to review Windows 7 itself. Microsoft recently supplied the TC with a build of Windows 7, and is discussing TC testing going forward. The TC will conduct middleware-related tests on future builds of Windows 7," reads an excerpt from the report.

The Redmond company, through Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, has already stated that it plans a strong connection between Windows 7 and Windows Live Wave 3, the next generation of the Windows Live suite of products and services. In the Europe arena, the EU Antitrust Commission has said as early as mid-December that it is looking into allegations, that Microsoft is tying separate products to its windows operating system. The concerns revolve around desktop search and Windows Live.

Both the European Antitrust Commission and the Technical Committee in the US have made it clear that it is illegal for Microsoft to favor its own software over solutions developed by competitors. Currently, Windows 7 is expected to be made available within a three-year timeframe after the release of Windows Vista, with all indications pointing to 2009.

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