Windows to be sold without Media Player

BRUSSELS: Microsoft will release a version of its Windows operating system without the Media Player application on June 15 to comply with European Union anti-monopoly rules, the company said on Wednesday.

"These products will be made available to computer manufacturers on June 15 in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, and will be available to other distribution channels including the retail and volume licensing channels on July 1," the software giant said in a statement.

The decision is a result of a European Commission order that Microsoft strip its flagship product from Windows Media Player so that computer makers can buy other software to play films and music from competitors RealNetworks and Apple.

The Commission found in March 2004 that Microsoft had violated antitrust laws by competing unfairly.

It fined the world's largest software company a record 497 million euros ($613.1 million) and also ordered it to share information with rival makers of servers used to run printers and retrieve files, an issue known as interoperability.