• The Wall Street Journal, Thursday, May 10, 2012 12:25 PM

Mozilla Corp. has accused Microsoft of hampering its ability to distribute its Firefox Web browser on devices being designed for the next version of the Windows operating system. The contention “focuses on future tablets and personal computers that exploit chip designs licensed from ARM Holdings PLC -- which are being supported for the first time in the next version of Microsoft's flagship Windows software,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft has been openly encouraging companies to create apps designed for a new interface it has developed for the operating system. However, Mozilla says the software giant isn’t letting developers make programs designed to work in a more conventional "desktop" mode for Windows on ARM-based devices – thus giving Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser free reign. According to WSJ, Harvey Anderson, Mozilla's general counsel, is comparing the situation to Microsoft actions against browser maker Netscape Communications, which prompted the U.S. government's antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in 1998. "We think it's a dangerous precedent," Anderson tells WSJ.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »