EU Competition Watchdog Sniffs At Windows RT

The European Competition Commission has turned its attention to the Windows RT operating system, following last week’s complaints by Mozilla and Google that Microsoft is giving an unfair advantage to its own browser.

Windows RT is the upcoming version of Windows designed for ARM processors and mobile devices. According to Mozilla, it prohibits any browser except for Internet Explorer from running in the privileged ‘Windows Classic’ environment, limiting competing products to the Metro environment (similar to the one used in Windows Phone 7) with reduced functionality.

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Last week, Mozilla expressed frustration at Microsoft for limiting rival browsers’ opportunity on its Windows on ARM (WOA) architecture, and Chrome creator Google backed the Firefox maker’s concerns.

Mozilla says that only Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is allowed to work on the Classic version of Windows for the mobile-oriented ARM processor. Other browsers will be able to run on the Metro version.

“The commission is aware of these allegations and will remain vigilant that Microsoft fully complies with its commitments under the commission’s 2009 decision on browsers,” Antoine Colombani, the spokesman for EU Competition Commission said in a statement.

The EU agreement, which was signed in 2009 and expires in 2014, states that Microsoft must offer a choice of default browsers when the operating system is launched for the first time.

However, the European Commission spokesman noted that the only platform mentioned in the agreement was PCs. Windows RT is a Windows 8 edition designed for the ARM processors used in the majority of mobile devices and tablets, and as such, might not be covered under the agreement.

Whether concerns expressed by Mozilla are acted upon will depend on the definition of Personal Computer used by the competition commission.

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