Microsoft Unveils Windows Honor Code

Microsoft on Wednesday announced a set of principles that it promises to voluntarily follow during the operation of its Windows business. The 12 tenets are both designed to appease regulators following the expiration of a U.S. antitrust ruling in November 2007, and enable Microsoft to be more transparent.

The principles will apply starting with Windows Vista and continue with future releases. Microsoft says it will review them and make updates as necessary at least once every three years. They will be published publicly on the Redmond company's Web site.

Microsoft has broken down its 12 tenets into three categories: Choice for Computer Manufacturers and Customers, Opportunity for Developers, and Interoperability for Users. Each is designed to cover areas in which Microsoft has been heavily criticized in the past, and correct practices that have gotten the company into hot water with antitrust watchdogs.

"We're not suggesting that the Windows Principles will address every question raised by regulators and competitors," Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said in a speech at the National Press Club Wednesday. "However, the fact that there are unanswered questions shouldn’t impede the adoption of a broad set of principles in those areas where there is clarity and consensus."

In order to ensure choice for computer makers and end-users, Microsoft says it will design Windows so it is easy to install non-Microsoft software and configure new PCs to use third-party applications rather than default Windows tools. Licensing contracts with OEMs will be designed with this goal in mind.

Developers are also a central theme in the new principles. Microsoft asserts it will license all parts of the Windows platform "on terms that create and preserve opportunities for applications developers and Web site creators." The company says this even includes products that compete with its own applications.

The last three tenets cover interoperability, which includes making Windows communication protocols available "on commercially reasonable terms," and the documentation of protocols during the Windows design process. Microsoft says it will also license out its operating system patents under fair terms, as well as support and contribute to industry standards.

Smith says the principles go beyond the requirements of the antitrust ruling in the United States and apply to the company worldwide. Microsoft has found itself in trouble in both Europe and South Korea for alleged anti-competitive behavior. The EU Commission recently fined the company 280.5 million euros for not fully complying with a 2004 antitrust ruling.

"We have a responsibility to bring information about new technologies to regulators, so we can pursue an open and constructive dialogue before the launch of these new products,” Smith added. “Given the global nature of the information economy, we recognize the importance of providing this information on a global basis.”