Office 2007 What will Microsoft's loss in Europe m

Word is out: Microsoft has lost its appeal with the European Commission;s antitrust choice. So now what?There;s no word but if Microsoft will appeal once more, which it's got two months to choose regardless of whether or not to do. If it doesn;t, the organization might be pressured to pay the $700 million very good, plus a big chunk with the EC;s court costs. It also will have to finally acquire a way to make all the server communications protocols and connected documentation that it's been ordered to give on the market fto its rivals.(Sun and Novell — now both staunch Microsoft allies — were among those server vendors who were insisting on Microsoft making these protocols publicly out there. Now that they;re enmeshed in patent/interoperability alliances with Microsoft, I wonder if they care anymore.)My biggest question in all this is how will the Court;s September 17 ruling affect customers in Europe and elsewhere?If you believe Microsoft;s lobbyists, the decision means the end of the free-market economy and will probably be dire for Microsoft consumers and partners. If you believe the European Commission, the decision will create much more consumer selection and all kinds of new market place innovation. Communications protocols and their documentation is going to be provided. Bundling by Microsoft of applications and technologies for which there are non-Microsoft alternatives in future versions of Windows will likely be frowned upon.Does the ruling affect Windows Vista? Office 2007? The pending Windows 7 and Office 14 products? If it does,Genuine Windows 7, I;m not sure how. Will today;s ruling help Microsoft;s rivals, such as Firefox,Microsoft Office 2010 Home And Stude/nt, Adobe, Google? Maybe, if any of these competitors bring a new antitrust case against Microsoft to try to force Microsoft to cut XPS (Micorsoft;s PDF alternative) or Vista;s integrated desktop search and create yet much more versions of Windows.Microsoft isn;t pulling its products out of Europe (as it threatened to perform at one point). It will continue offering the Media-Player-less versions of Windows to consumers there,even though no one seems to get buying them. Another Microsoft watcher wondered about the impact:“Much is written in the United States about how anti-trust is supposed to become about protecting customers rather than competition; it;s not clear a similar philosophy is shared by the EU in this case,” said Peter O;Kelly, an analyst with all the Burton Group. “In the grand scheme of things,Office 2007 Enterprise Key, I don;t think forcing Microsoft to,Office Professional Plus 2007 Key, e.g.,Microsoft Office Pro 2007, provide you with a version of Windows that un-bundles Windows Media Player or other basic features, will probably foster improved competition; I doubt European customers would be happy to use deliberately dumbed-down products in order to help EU commissioners reduce Microsoft;s marketplace share to what they somehow believe is a extra appropriate level.”Me? I think it is going to be a good thing if today;s decision results in Microsoft not bundling currently standalone products for which there are alternatives from third-party vendors into future releases of Windows. Let users determine what kinds of add-ons they want and from whom they;d prefer to get them. Otherwise, I;m not sure that today;s judgment means a whole lot to business and consumer users.What do you say, readers?