Brussels (Belgium) - The world did not tilt on its axis, and continents failed to shift their positions, following Microsoft's announcement yesterday that it would respond to the European Commission's demand for instructions as to how to make Windows interoperable, with licenses that would allow developers to see Windows' source code for themselves.

Verifying initial indications from the EC yesterday that the Microsoft offer would be interpreted as incompatible, to coin a phrase, with its pointed request for documentation, the EC's Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes, told Reuters today (Europe time), "Normally speaking, the source code is not the ultimate documentation of anything, which is precisely the reason why programmers are required to provide comprehensive documentation to go along with their source code." (our own assessment of the Microsoft move that morning, that it represented a shift in the company's fundamental philosophy, as well as a big gamble for a company that suddenly finds itself with something valuable enough to consider a loss, if they were to lose it.

"I don't necessarily think this that big of an announcement," Chris Swenson, NPD Group's director of software industry analysis, told TG Daily. "Granted, Microsoft would prefer not to share its source code. The fact that Microsoft decided to do so is a big concession. But it appears that Microsoft is not offering to release all of the source code for its Windows server product."

Indeed, Microsoft's move yesterday isn't even close to an "open source"-style disclosure, or suddenly deciding to release Windows under a general public license. While the specific terms of its forthcoming disclosure have yet to be revealed, analysts believe it appears to be an extension of the company's existing Shared Source Initiative, which the company created five years ago to appeal to the needs of certain select customers, as well as some US government agencies.

Al Gillen, IDC's research director of system software, agrees with Swenson, backing up his argument by tying Microsoft's new program with its existing initiative. "It's not a fundamental shift," Gillen told TG Daily. "It's a shift inasmuch as, [Microsoft] apparently is trying to address market segments it hasn't addressed previously with the Shared Source Initiative; but the Shared Source Initiative, in and of itself, is not a new thing."