The US Department of Justice has received complaints about the nature of a forthcoming feature of Windows Vista. It's not Internet Explorer, it's not Windows Media Player, it's not even Windows OneCare. No, this brewing debacle concerns the way in which Windows Vista boots on new machines. According to the Antitrust division of the DoJ,

"Plaintiffs have received a complaint regarding the ability of OEM's to customize the first-boot experience in Vista, and in particular concerning the Welcome Center, a new interface that presents the user with various setup options and commercial offers (presented by Microsoft and OEMs) at the end of the initial out-of-the-box experience. Plaintiffs are also talking with several industry members who have expressed additional concerns regarding aspects of Windows Vista."

The identity of the complainant is not known, although the nature of the concern suggests the context of a major OEM such as HP or Dell. Indeed, before the DoJ report was published, Wall Street Journal reported that HP had been fighting with Microsoft over the issue, which leaves them as the most likely culprit in filing an official complaint. Contrary to reports elsewhere, the DoJ has said that they have received only one complaint, not several. In any case, others are likely to sound the alarm, too, because the setup process is something that the OEMs like to monetize (along with your desktop, which they cheerfully pack with endless amounts of crap you have no interest in). Now that the topic has been breached, it will be interesting to see who wishes to protest the issue.

OEMs would like to see a first-time setup process that allows them to customize screens in order to promote brand image and sell additional products such as anti-virus subscriptions, support contracts, and more. Microsoft is expected to use the setup process to promote services such as Windows OneCare.

The complaints are processed by the DoJ as part of its monitoring of the antitrust settlement reached with Microsoft. At the moment, the DoJ reports that they have not yet reached a judgment regarding the validity of these concerns, but they will continue to monitor and assess the situation.

Oh, to envy Apple

Microsoft must envy Apple on days like this. Divorced from the hardware manufacturing part of the equation, Microsoft has been long entwined in battles with OEMs over what gets top billing, and what doesn't. The never-ending tug-of-war between OEMs and Microsoft has led to what can only be called a quagmire on the newly unpacked OEM desktop: applications, services, services for applications, applications to manage your services, all sprawled out all over the place.  Oh boy, and dial-up Internet offers! In my past life as a IT type, I found that it took more time to undo the damage done to a new PC by OEMs than it took to set it up. Thank the Giant Head for ghosting system images!

Of course, the OEMs' penchant for loading up a machine with garbage didn't land them on the losing end of the DoJ's tortoise style kung-fu, either. Microsoft's own issues with regards to OEMs and software configurations are well known, as the company was nailed for using its leverage to push out competitors. For now, the company will have to watch on with worry, as the likes of Dell sign pacts with Google to distribute their wares. Yet the evil monopolist in me is pulling for Microsoft in this dispute, if only because system setup is not the time to try and milk people for more money. (And let's face it: when you buy a PC from a major OEM, the "check out" process us already inundated with commercial offerings to begin with. Give it a rest, people.)

written by Ken "Caesar" Fisher
found on arstechnica.com