Protocols, APIs to Be Revealed

To comply with its proposed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) and to convince the judge in the federal antitrust case that it will obey behavioral remedies, Microsoft will make available some previously unrevealed network protocols and internal interfaces used by Windows. The company will license more than 100 new network protocols used by desktop versions of Windows to communicate and interoperate with Windows servers, and will publicly document more than 200 internal Windows APIs. The revelations could help ISVs create products to link Windows with other platforms and compete against Microsoft “middleware,” such as media players and Web browsers.

License Required for Some Protocols

On Aug. 28, Microsoft will release documentation for 113 previously unrevealed network protocols used by desktop versions of Windows to interoperate or communicate with Windows servers. To access this information, organizations will have to go through a licensing process and sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) restricting them from disclosing the information except under very specific circumstances. The NDA will not prevent organizations from using the protocols to create commercial products, however.