:The Wall Street Journal: Why Microsoft Battles Europe Years After Settling With U.S.
The Wall Street Journal: Why Microsoft Battles Europe Years After Settling With U.S. May 5, 2006, 14 :30 UTC (11 Talkback[s]) (8630 reads) (Other stories by Mary Jacoby)
"To smooth the rising bad feelings, Mr. Ballmer last April quietly sought the meeting with Ms. Kroes. Despite the leak to the press, the meeting went well, both sides say. Ms. Kroes said she didn't want confrontation. 'I'm just looking for practical results in the market,' she told Mr. Ballmer, both sides confirm. Mr. Ballmer said he agreed, and they sketched out a rough road map for resolving their differences by the end of May 2005.
"There was one important sticking point: Ms. Kroes was adamant that companies that service and distribute the increasingly popular Linux computer operating system, including Red Hat, be able to use the programming manual Microsoft had been ordered to develop. Many businesses favor Linux because its cost is nominal and its underlying programming code is published openly, making it a cheaper, more flexible alternative to Windows..."
