The EU is so clueless they should all be put into a group home. Tell Apple to take Safari out of their Macs and Firefox out of Linux distros. Tell the auto companies to ship cars without radios.

Joe, Millstone, NJ, USA

Ken Hathaway has got no clue about Opera software if he prefers Microsoft's sad excuse for a browser.

That particular product has held the web's potential back for too long and web developers are infinitely tired of having to spend hours trying to work around its limitations. It should conform to standards like other browsers make a real effort to.

The Times should know that a similar case was launched against microsoft by Netscape a few years ago and it was ruled that their browser can't be shipped with Windows which is why IE7 has to be downloaded separately.

Mike Laughton, runcorn, United Kingdom

I am a US based IT Professional, and a user/fixer of many Microsoft products for nearly 20 years and worked on other computer systems before Microsoft really took off. I believe Microsoft's goal is nothing less than total dominance of computers and the Internet and their offerings are more about dominance and monopolizing the market than offering a great product. I think the EU needs to impale Microsoft with the biggest boot they can manage and levy fines that cause real pain, loss of stock value and eventually marketshare. The Borg continues on unfettered in the US. Their business practices need help realingning. I say stick it to them, EU.

art, Nashville, TN

Just require every X86 box sold to come with a choice of Windows (fee set by MS) or Linux (free).
You'll pretty soon seen Microsoft's dominance crumble.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK

If you can't win in the market place then turn to the stupid EU courts. You are suppose to drink the beer not cry in it Opera. I for one will never use your trash software.

Ken Hathaway, Ogden, Utah USA

Will this be yet another case of the Commission using an overly aggressive teleological approach? It raises serious issues about how far dominant undertakings will now be free to include ‘built-in’ features to enhance their product.

The ECJ in ‘TetraPakII’ stated that ‘any independent producer is quite free...to manufacture consumables intended for use in equipment manufactured by others’ However, on reflection (and as the last Microsoft case seems to suggest). What the commission meant was not that such independent producers are ‘free’ to manufacture but that, if they do, then Article 82 EC will positively help them to do so by constraining the dominant undertaking by virtue of their 'super-dominance'.

I notice US anti-trust authorities have already come to a conclusion on this issue - broadly, concluding it is a product inhancement not a tie-in. But knowing the commission, this won't be their conclusion. They seem intent on protecting competitors rather than consumers.

Lloyd Nail, Leicester, UK

Once again we have the EU sticking it's nose into something it knows nothing about. So what if IE is bundled with Windows! Users have a thing called choice. They don't have to use IE if they don't want to. Why doesn't the commission look into Apple and their Safari browser, isn't that a bundle? Or how about iTunes which only plays music downloaded from the iTunes site and works only on iPods. no user choice there if you ask me.

Mark Hinson, Buckingham,

All power to the EU to take on Microsoft's restrictive practices. It is long overdue and should have happened in the US as well 10 years ago.

If you run a business, you get fed up with Microsoft forever updating products that require all other software and hardware to be updated too, at enormous expense. And the software doesn't even work properly or efficiently either! There is a huge IT industry built upon Microsoft's deficiencies.

I only hope the combined forces of Google, EU, IBM, Sun and some other huge multi-nationals result in the destruction of Microsoft's dominance and a robust, open source operating system that is given away on all new pcs and that everyone can use easily.

This is a massive economic issue that has to be addressed soon.

Alistair Nicholls, Manchester, UK

The two people above do not appear to fully understand the idea of a monopolistic company and the abuse of it's dominance. If windows were allowed to continually bundle their software into our computers, this would leave us and other companies no other choice but to use them. the impact on innovation would be far ranging and could effectively bring any developments in IT or the internet to a standstill.

Further to this, if Microsoft were allowed free reign over operating systems AND the internet, what would be stopping them from increasing the prices they charge to wholesalers and distributers, with obvious knock on effects to the price the consumer has to pay. Worst still microsoft would be in a position to in effect hold computer users and makers to ransom by charging higher costs at source, or even something that is yet to be seen, subscription charges to the end consumer. For these reasons, the commissions work is important and in my opinion, wholly justified.

Ciaran Rooney, Alton, HAMPSHIRE

Faustino, What we are seeing is the result of "market forces" when one player starts bullying the marketplace. The EC is solving a problem, one which has been an issue for a quite a while. "Free Rein" is a proverbial double-edged sword, and ceases to be desirable if the beneficiaries are aggressive monopolists.

MarkM, Cambridge, UK

One is reminded of Alan B'Stard's description of the EC as a gravy boat - "like a gravy train but bigger, slower, and you can keep coming back for more."

The strongest argument for the Commission to leave well alone is nothing to do with the rights and wrongs of the case, but the simple observation that when MS did make Windows-M (the version with no media player) available, only a few thousand copies were ever sold. The consumers simply don't care about these issues and the Commission, if it is not asleep, knows it.

It would be far better for Europe if, instead of writing me-too apps which will never capture major market share, Opera's staff came up with a new killer app which created a new market segment and led the world in it. THIS is what the Eurocrats should be cajoling our software developers to be doing.

Ian Kemmish, Biggleswade, UK

I also have MS XP pro, I also use Firefox. I wish the commission would address competition issues that affect my pocket such as water supply monopolies. The commission's remit is to protect our interests not those of big business.

John, Sussex,

I have Microsoft XP Pro; I mainly use the free Firefox browser. Can't the EC find anything useful to do? E.g. reducing government ownership of commercial operations to allow market forces freer rein?

Faustino, Brisbane, Australia