The European Union’s Commission on Competition ruled Wednesday that the Microsoft Corporation’ has used its powerful market position illegally. The E-U ordered Microsoft to provide information about its Windows operating system to other software companies. The E-U commission also ordered Microsoft to make a version of Windows without one of the company’s own software products. And, it ordered the American software company to pay about six-hundred-million dollars.
Microsoft says it will appeal the decision to the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.
Microsoft is the world’s biggest software maker. Software is a set of orders for the parts of a computer. An operating system is a complex set of orders that control the computer, its software and other devices. Microsoft software runs more than ninety percent of all personal computers in the world.
The E-U commission ruled about Microsoft’s addition of a media player to its operating system. A media player lets a computer play music and video through the Internet. The commission ordered Microsoft to make a version of Windows without the Microsoft Media Player. Microsoft has said that is not possible.