US antitrust regulators examine Windows 7

A technical committee is already reviewing the successor to Microsoft's Vista operating system

US regulators are examining the upcoming version of Windows to ensure that Microsoft is in compliance with the final judgement in antitrust cases.

Windows 7, the successor to Vista, will be reviewed by the technical committee for the regulators, along with its ongoing review of Vista, Vista SP1, XP SP3, Media Player 11, Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 (beta).

As Microsoft's development of Windows 7 continues, the technical team will carry out middleware-related testing.

This is designed to ensure that "bugs fixed in Vista do not reappear in the next operating system", according to a Department of Justice statement, and that it complies with the final judgment.

The team is also testing the publicly available beta of Internet Explorer 8 and familiarising itself with its new features.

In addition, regulators are assessing Microsoft's efforts in rewriting technical documentation provide to licensees under the Microsoft Communications Protocol Program.

The information was released today as part of an interim status report and is the first update since the status report on 29 February.

It was jointly written by the plaintiffs (the DoJ and a number of US states) and Microsoft.