Microsoft to open data to competitors
However, the announcement was greeted by widespread skepticism in tech and legal circles, since the software giant has made similar concessions in the past that have not played out as cast.
"Stop the presses! Microsoft announces principles," said Forrester analyst John Rymer.
The European Commission, Europe's antitrust enforcer, issued a statement questioning "whether or not the principles announced today are in fact implemented in practice."
Still, the company says it intends to publish data that should make it easier for rival software developers to create programs that run well on its Windows computer operating system and with its Office 2007 word processing, spreadsheet and slideshow programs.
It will also lower some of the licensing fees it charges open-source developers. Open-source practitioners share their work publicly for free, the antithesis of Microsoft's proprietary products.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called the moves "an important step and significant change in how we share information about our products and technologies."
In a conference call with reporters and analysts, Ballmer, a vehement critic of open-source software, appeared to extend an olive branch to the open-source community. Ballmer said he hoped the moves would "open up opportunities" for open-source developers "to add value to our products."
But a statement issued by the European Commission, which is in the midst of enforcing antitrust sanctions against the company, noted that the announcement "follows at least four similar statements by Microsoft in the past."
Speculation about the timing of the announcement ran rampant in tech circles. ZDNet tech columnist Mary Jo Foley suggested in her blog that Microsoft may be trying to appease the ISO, a standards-setting board set to rule next week on whether Office 2007 uses file formats that can be certified as non-proprietary. The company risks losing out on contracts from government agencies that require use of such open file formats, says Foley.
Indeed, the rising use of open-source software in business and government may be forcing Microsoft's hand, says Charles King, principal analyst at tech consultancy Pund-IT. "This announcement suggests the company understands that there is a better way of using its intellectual and financial capital than expending years of effort on no-win confrontations," says King.
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