News MS to ship substandard Windows if EU axe falls

From el Reg:

Well, here's a puzzle. At the close of today's European antitrust hearing Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith popped up and told reporters: "It is a confidential proceeding as you know, so I really can't talk about what we or others are saying inside the room, and as result, I'm sorry but I am really not in a position to answer any of your questions."

That is, he told them nothing. But "Microsoft Corp said it would be forced to offer European consumers a substandard version of Windows if the European Union makes it re-write its operating system," sources close to the case said. Like us, you may be hard put to identify sources close to the company sufficiently enslaved to trot out that party line without comment - having a hand there all the time must surely be painful.

Full report here

 

There's also a good article about this over at Wired news.