European Commission lukewarm to Microsoft pledge

The European Commission on Thursday cautiously welcomed Microsoft Corp.'s announcement it will make its file format for storing documents compatible with that of rivals but the latter termed the move insufficient and a delaying tactic.

The European Union executive said it "takes note of Microsoft's announcement" that its new Office Open XML file format will be compatible with the OpenDocument Format supported by Sun Microsystems, IBM and others.

Critics say the Microsoft format effectively forces Microsoft customers into buying only Microsoft programs.

"The Commission would welcome any step that Microsoft took toward genuine interoperability, more consumer choice and less vendor lock-in," the EU executive said in a statement.

The European Commission launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft Office in January.

"The Commission will investigate whether the announced support of OpenDocument Format in Office leads to better interoperability and allows consumers to process and exchange their documents with the software product of their choice," the EU statement said.

Thomas Vinje, spokesman for the European Committee for Interoperable Systems _ a group representing IBM, Nokia Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., RealNetworks Inc. and Oracle Corp. _ said Microsoft was dragging its heels as its ODF support applies to its Office 2007 service pack 2 that is to be released in 2009 only.

"Microsoft is still playing for time to further consolidate its super-dominant position, and that continued antitrust vigilance will be necessary," Vinje said in a statement.

"Microsoft's new promise to implement ODF 1.1 in the first half of 2009 is pretty underwhelming."

In May, a British watchdog agency complained Microsoft Corp.'s new file format for storing documents discouraged competition. It offered to help the EU find out if the software giant withheld information from rivals concerning the interoperability of file formats.

Last year, the EU high court upheld a record antitrust fine of $2.63 billion for the way Microsoft has marketed its Windows operating system in Europe.

Microsoft argues its Office Open XML format is superior to ODF and has succeeded in making it an internationally accepted standard.