This week's European appeals court ruling means Microsoft will be confronted with making fundamental changes to core business practices and technologies, well beyond the European continent. Microsoft customers and partners should prepare now for what lies ahead.
The appeals decision puts Microsoft under strict government oversight in Europe. The European Competition Commission can—and almost certainly will—compel Microsoft to reveal much of its secret server sauce, to better interoperability with third-party software.
Additionally, the European Commission's position is emboldened for bringing actions against other Microsoft technologies, such as .NET, Office and search. The European Commission wants nothing less than the technological equivalent of breaking up Microsoft.
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