Microsoft's latest steps in Europe are dissected despite great secrecy. A WHILE ago we showed that one familiar Microsoft lobbying arm had just published an anti-Free software paper.

AS Microsoft turns to more aggressive tactics, independent Web sites like Groklaw provide succinct evidence of anti-competitive behaviour, especially in the realms of sub-notebooks [1, 2].

Thank you, Microsoft. No, really. Thank you. Ignore the spin from Mono/Novell blogs and think what Microsoft has just formally acknowledged, even implicitly. To reuse a belated response sent to some journalists (it was hard to reply while absent), the gist goes like this...

A few weeks ago, Microsoft announced that Windows 7 would not ship with Internet Explorer 8 within the European Union. This is to comply with EU demands following the anti-trust case some time back. On the immediate face of this seem like good news for users of other browsers - but is it?

How much will actually change?

Daniel Schmitt is one of the people behind the whistle blower project Wiki Leaks. In the interview he encourages all readers and warns his opponents. They have the means to make our society better, to create a world which stands united and strong against abuse - locally and nationally as well as globally. Modern, fast, world-wide technology makes it possible.

Supporters of Mono answer questions that are not even asked — a pattern which requires simple clarification

Uganda, Ghana, Illinois and Indiana as victims of Microsoft .

Microsoft uses aggressive, dishonest marketing to promote proprietary software that interferes with standards