Microsoft Corp said it will allow users and computer makers to hide some of its programs in an update to its newest Windows operating system, as required by the antitrust settlement it signed with the US.
The Windows XP Service Pack 1 will allow computer makers and users to change which Web browser and Internet audio player is automatically used by Windows and which programs are displayed or hidden, said Jim Cullinan, a Windows product manager. It also removes prompts to sign up for Microsoft's Passport identification.
Microsoft agreed in a settlement with the Justice Department and nine states to allow such changes to make sure Microsoft can't use Windows, which runs 90 percent of the world's personal computers, to push its other programs at the expense of rivals.
Many PC makers will probably promote products from Microsoft competitors such as AOL Time Warner Inc and RealNetworks Inc in exchange for cash, analysts said.
"Microsoft wanted to leverage their position on the desktop to give them an advantage in certain other areas. Now that may be harder," said Mike Silver, an analyst at market research firm Gartner Inc. "PC vendors are looking to make money any way they can because profit margins are so thin." The terms of the settlement prohibit Microsoft from offering PC makers incentives to use its e-mail, media player, Web browser and instant messaging products with Windows, Cullinan said.
Customers and privacy advocates had also complained about Passport, which was not dealt with in the antitrust case.
The original Windows XP, which went on sale on Oct. 25, asks users repeatedly if they want to sign up for a Passport account, which stores user identification so they don't have to re-enter it for different programs and Web sites. Passport wasn't required to run XP but it is required to use some XP programs such as the Windows Messenger instant messaging and teleconferencing program.
Microsoft's settlement is being reviewed by a federal judge, who is also considering harsher remedies proposed by nine other states.
The update will also incorporate security fixes and corrects problems XP had working with some programs and devices. A test version will be available in several weeks and the final version will be given to computer makers and available for free download by Windows owners in late summer, Cullinan said.
To comply with the settlement, Microsoft has included a feature in Windows that lets customers and PC makers decide which programs are automatically used for reading e-mail, viewing Web pages, listening to Internet audio and video and sending short, instant e-mail messages, Cullinan said. Users can also choose to hide or display links to particular programs.
Microsoft will write the programming code that lets a user hide or show its programs and make them the default for certain tasks. Other software makers will have to write the code to do that for their programs. That means some companies could choose not to, or could allow users only to show but not hide their programs, Cullinan said.
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