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Journalism of Courage
Microsoft Corp dropped its appeal of a European antitrust ruling and said Monday that it has begun offering a version of its Windows operating system without software for playing audio and video.
Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said the company began making Windows without the integrated media player available to computer makers last week at the same price that it charges for full-featured Windows. He declined to say whether major manufacturers had placed any orders. 8216;8216;It8217;s too early in the process to speculate on the level of interest,8217;8217; Desler said.
Dell Inc, the world8217;s largest PC maker, later said it might become a major customer. The company has been promoting its own program for video and music, called Dell Media Experience, which ships on most consumer PCs.
The company might decide to remove the Windows Media Center, which offers some similar functions, in what could be a blow to Microsoft8217;s market share in the media player market. 8216;8216;It absolutely makes sense8217;8217; to do so, said Dell spokesman Venancio Figueroa. 8216;8216;We8217;re currently evaluating the decision.8217;8217; Microsoft offered the stripped-down version of Windows to comply with a Dec. order by the EU8217;s Court of First Instance, which rejected its plea to temporarily delay two penalties imposed by the European Commission. 8212;LAT-WP
