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Microsoft today lifted the lid on 14,000 pages of sketchy versionsof tech documentation for core software code. On show for the firsttime in public are underlying protocols for Office 2007, OfficeSharePoint Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007.
This is Microsoft's latest effort to satisfy anti-trust concerns ofthe European Union, which is possibly a tougher adversary for thecompany than Google.
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In February, the firm made a surprise announcementin which it agreed to publish and provide free access to applicationprogramming interfaces (APIs) for its major software products.
At the time Microsoft said it also planned to free up protocols around its client and server software.
Now it has unleashed preliminary tech docs that reveal some of theinner-workings of its code via its Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN)website. This is the first stage of the process.
Between now and June it will garner feedback from the developercommunity. Then, at the end of June, Microsoft will publish the finalversions of technical documentation – along with definitive patentlicensing terms.
The definitions will be crucial to third parties who want to playwith Microsoft code. We shall find out soon enough if Redmond will letthem play ball.
Tom Robertson, Microsoft’s interoperability and standards generalmanager, says today's moves are "another step toward putting ourinteroperability principles into action with the public availability ofthese protocol specifications".
It may also help the company head off some anti-trust concerns.
In January European regulators began two formal investigations against Microsoft for alleged market abuse.
One is a response to the complaint filed by the European Committeefor Interoperable Systems alleging Redmond had refused to discloseinteroperability information on a range of Microsoft products.
The EC is scrutinising several server products and Office Open XML(OOXML) on the grounds that the specification doesn't work with thoseof competitors. Just last week OOXML bagged enough votes to be passed as an international standard, much to the chagrin of open source fanciers around the globe.
The second investigation was sparked by a complaint from theNorwegian web browser company Opera, which alleged that the tying ofInternet Explorer to its Windows operating system was anti-competitive.
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haha. this is why you shouldn't steal news content.