Leader: Microsoft ruling - preposterous or precedent?

A €497m fine is not going to make Bill Gates and his colleagues lose too much sleep. Nor will the decision to enforce a stripped-down, MediaPlayer-free operating system prove to be anything more than an irritation. It won't actually resolve the competition issues which the EC set out to address.

The EC stopped short of forcing Microsoft to offer the unbundled version at a cheaper price, which means Microsoft will be able to charge the same for Windows without MediaPlayer as it will for Windows with the offending application - such is the nature of the long-term value add.

So why would consumers, given a choice of a version with or without, opt for the inferior version at the same price? Put simply, they won't. That said, even with a price differential imposed we're probably only taking about something in the region of $5 anyway.

The OEMs will have few requests for 'Windows-lite' but will have the added confusion and cost-ineffectiveness of having to distinguish between the two and offer both - because Microsoft will have to make them do so.

The 'fat-free' OS will also have to be offered through the business channel and in-store but it's unlikely to see any more demand there as it's unlikely Microsoft will throw much marketing clout or budget into promoting its availability.

In short, Microsoft is being forced to provide a version of its software which will sit on shelves or on master disks, unsold and unused, just gathering dust - physically or metaphorically - in order to comply with this ruling.

But 'so be it' will be the feeling within the EC, who for all the accusations of futility will claim to have set an important precedent despite the surprisingly low-key nature of events in Brussels today where competition chief Mario Monti made the announcement as part of the EC's daily business briefing to the press.

On file there is now a 'guilty' verdict against Microsoft's name and that is invaluable to an executive body which wants to ensure one company can never dictate the way business within the European Union is conducted. The monopolist has been convicted and Microsoft now has 'form' - the EC will feel it has wrested back power.

If used effectively, the setting of that precedent - and what it will mean over the long term - may prove worth putting up with more than a little criticism.