Microsoft is having a hard time with complaints across the board about its software licensing and interoperability practices – most recently with a complaint forwarded to the EC from a UK education group called Becta. The EC has been engaged since January in investigating interoperability issues surrounding Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) document formats for Office 2007. The majority of complaints filed is about the software licensing agreements (SLAs).
Becta is recommending that the UK educational community not use Office 2007, recommending that users save files in the older formats until Microsoft is ODF compliant. Microsoft has stated that they are working with Becta to resolve the issues raised in the complaint. The Internet IT Blog has some additional reporting on the BECTA Suit.
The company is already facing antitrust issues with the EU, with a $1.3 billion fine.