Microsoft has agreed to limit the number of shortcuts to its middleware applications in Windows when a computer user designates competing products as defaults, according to antitrust compliance documents released Wednesday.
Microsoft changed the way the Windows XP operating system treats Microsoft"s "middleware" products, including Internet Explorer (IE), when those products are removed as defaults. The steps were in response to a review by the technical committee that is checking the company"s compliance with an antitrust settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that was approved in late 2002. The changes were described in a joint status report released Wednesday by the DOJ.