UNITED STATES OF AMERICA et al v. MICROSOFT CORPORATION

Filing 847

STATUS REPORT Supplemental on Compliance with the Final Judgment by MICROSOFT CORPORATION. (Rule, Charles)

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA et al v. MICROSOFT CORPORATION Doc. 847 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. MICROSOFT CORPORATION, Defendant. Civil Action No. 98-1232 (CKK) Next Court Deadline: May 15, 2007 Supplemental Status Report SUPPLEMENTAL STATUS REPORT ON MICROSOFT'S COMPLIANCE WITH THE FINAL JUDGMENTS Microsoft hereby files its Monthly Supplemental Status Report regarding compliance with the Final Judgments. This Supplemental Status Report details Microsoft's progress in revising the technical documentation in connection with the Microsoft Communications Protocol Program ("MCPP") and other Windows-related matters. I. Microsoft's Progress in Modifying the Technical Documentation As explained in detail in Microsoft's February Supplemental Status Report and the last Joint Status Report, Microsoft is proceeding under the following schedule for the Initial Availability release of the revised MCPP documentation: Dockets.Justia.com Milestone Milestone 1 Milestone 2 Milestone 3 Longhorn Milestone Milestone 4 Milestone 5 Initial Availability to Licensees Delivered Delivered Delivered Delivered 5/11/2007 7/20/2007 Number of Documents1 31 24 38 29 34 40 Since the previous Joint Status Report, Microsoft delivered the Initial Availability Longhorn Milestone documents as planned on April 3, 2007. Microsoft is on track to produce the remaining Milestones and Online Builds to licensees in accordance with the current schedule.2 As part of this effort, Microsoft has been working to provide an XML markup of the technical documentation, which the Technical Committee and Mr. Hunt (collectively referred to as the "TC") plan to use in connection with their internal testing efforts. Although Microsoft has provided an XML markup with each build, the TC identified errors in the initial markups and asked Microsoft to make corrections.3 Microsoft has been able to address a number of these 1 As explained in previous status reports, the precise number of documents that Microsoft plans to produce in connection with the MCPP documentation is likely to be adjusted as the documentation is being rewritten and the project moves toward completion. Accordingly, the number of documents to be produced as part of the Longhorn Milestone has been adjusted from 30 to 29, Milestone 4 has been adjusted from 35 to 34, and Milestone 5 has been adjusted from 38 to 40. These adjustments will not affect Microsoft's ability to meet the schedule. Future adjustments remain possible. In addition, Microsoft will make available seven overview/reference documents. These documents will be updated as appropriate and as the new documentation for each Milestone is produced. Also, Microsoft is documenting 17 additional protocols that will be made available outside of the MCPP. Initial Availability for two of these documents is scheduled for June 1, 2007. The other 15 documents are scheduled for Initial Availability release on August 10, 2007. Microsoft's work in revising the XML markup in response to the TC's feedback does not impact the documentation delivered to licensees. Rather the XML markup is provided only to the TC for its testing efforts. 2 3 2 issues, but some remain outstanding. Microsoft is working to complete the outstanding work as soon as possible. As the TC's testing work is an evolving project, Microsoft's efforts to revise the XML markup will be ongoing as well. Accordingly, Microsoft will continue to modify the XML markup as the TC's testing work moves forward and as new information and changes are requested. The TC has informed Microsoft that it plans to share its testing tool with Microsoft later in April, which should help facilitate this project. Microsoft understands that the TC believes this project is important to its work. Microsoft will involve another senior test engineer in the project to determine if there are possible process improvements and/or additional resources that would be appropriate. Since the previous report, Microsoft and the TC also have agreed on three adjustments to the specification templates. The specification templates now have been finalized. A. Current Status of Microsoft's Progress in Resolving Technical Documentation Issues ("TDIs") through March 31, 2007 As noted in previous Status Reports, Microsoft is working to address the TDIs in the old technical documentation in the course of rewriting the new technical documentation. Accordingly, Microsoft will review the Online Build documentation for each Milestone as it is produced to ensure that all previously existing TDIs relating to that Milestone (including those that were previously closed and those that were not addressed in the old documentation) are addressed. Based on this review, Microsoft now has closed all but one of the TDIs addressed by the Milestone 1 documentation. This remaining TDI should be closed shortly. In addition, all but six of the old TDIs addressed by the Milestone 2 documentation have now been successfully closed. Of the remaining six, Microsoft has proposed resolutions to the TC for four and is working to resolve the other two as quickly as possible. 3 The current status of TDIs in the old documentation for the previous month is set forth below. Overall, the total number of outstanding TDIs has continued to drop as Microsoft anticipated at the beginning of the rewrite project. As of 2/28/2007 Period Ended 3/31/2007 Old Document TDIs 60-Day TDIs Submitted by the TC Submitted this period Closed this period Outstanding Other TDIs Submitted by the TC Submitted this period Closed this period Outstanding TC Subtotal Outstanding TDIs Identified by Microsoft Identified this period Closed this period Outstanding Total Outstanding 1 52 175 124 1 174 647 822 474 598 0 4 93 915 89 687 Microsoft will continue to update the Court regarding its progress in resolving TDIs from the old documentation. Moreover, the TC will continue to identify TDIs in the old documentation that has not yet been rewritten. Given the volume and complexity of the new technical documentation, it is inevitable that additional TDIs will emerge in the newly rewritten documentation, even as TDIs in the old documentation are being resolved. The TC will identify all TDIs in the new Online Build documentation according to the three priority levels that were described in the previous Joint 4 Status Report. In addition to TDIs identified by the TC, Microsoft will continue to track and report the number of TDIs that have been self-identified through Microsoft's testing efforts, as well as those submitted by licensees.4 Microsoft has committed to closing to the TC's satisfaction all outstanding TDIs in the new documentation within 60 days. As of March 31, 2007, there were three TDIs outstanding for more than 60 days without a proposed solution; however, Microsoft has now proposed solutions for all three of these TDIs. The current status of TDIs identified in rewritten documentation through March 31, 2007 is noted in the chart below. 4 In addition to receiving possible TDIs from licensees, Microsoft also provides licensees with technical assistance. At the end of 2006, Microsoft began encouraging licensees to submit requests for technical assistance directly to a dedicated Technical Assistance Manager ("TAM") rather than submitting requests to the customer service organization whose practice is to log communications directly into a central database. As a result of these changes, the manner in which licensee support was documented within Microsoft changed. Microsoft will log communications between the TAM and the licensees for subsequent review and monitoring by the TC. 5 Rewritten Document TDIs Priority 1 TDIs Submitted by the TC Submitted this period Closed this period Outstanding Priority 2 TDIs Submitted by the TC Submitted this period Closed this period Outstanding Priority 3 TDIs Submitted by the TC Submitted this period Closed this period Outstanding TC Submitted TC Closed TC Outstanding TDIs Identified by Microsoft Identified this period Closed this period Microsoft Outstanding TDIs Identified by Licensees Identified this period Closed this period Licensee Outstanding Total Outstanding As of 2/28/20075 Period Ended 3/31/2007 29 14 34 108 52 108 95 51 74 232 117 216 19 52 30 101 83 228 115 196 0 0 0 412 0 184 The temporary increase in TDIs reflected in the above chart is due in large part to the delivery of the Milestone 2 Online Build documentation on March 3, 2007. As Microsoft has indicated in previous reports, an increase in the number of TDIs is expected shortly after a Milestone is delivered due to the complexity of the documentation being produced and the 5 The TDI numbers as of February 28, 2007 reported in this chart differ slightly from the numbers provided in the Joint Status Report. Some TDIs were re-categorized and one TDI that Microsoft believed was closed by the TC before February 28, 2007 was not actually closed by the TC until the beginning of March. 6 inevitability that all documentation will contain some TDIs that need to be addressed. Microsoft, however, is committed to addressing the TDIs quickly as each Milestone is completed. In addition, during March, Microsoft filed 214 TDIs that were self-identified as a result of the new protocol test suite that is described more fully below. Most of these TDIs reflect minor issues, and Microsoft expects to close most, if not all, of these TDIs by April 30, 2007. II. Technical Documentation Testing A. Protocol Test Suite Microsoft completed its development of a preliminary cluster of test suites by the target date of March 31, 2007. Microsoft reviewed the results with the TC on April 2, 2007, and the TC's preliminary feedback was positive. The TC is in the process of conducting a more detailed assessment of the results and will provide additional feedback to Microsoft. Microsoft will work with the TC to incorporate this feedback into subsequent test suites. Microsoft now is working to schedule and produce additional clusters of test suites on a quarterly basis. The protocols to be included in the quarterly releases will be prioritized to correspond to the release of the rewritten technical documentation and to emphasize those protocols that are likely to be of greatest value to licensees. In addition to this work, Microsoft has implemented the ability to capture network traffic generated by the test suites and has provided, and will continue to provide, these captures to the TC for its validation project. B. Interoperability Lab On August 30, 2006, Microsoft announced to MCPP licensees the availability, at no charge, of Microsoft's Interoperability Lab in the Microsoft Enterprise Engineering Center for testing licensee implementations of MCPP protocols. The Interoperability Lab offers direct access to Microsoft product development teams and technical support from Microsoft's engineering staff to address issues that may arise during testing. Microsoft has conducted a series of in-person visits to most licensees in order to promote the availability of these services. One Proxy/Firewall licensee has scheduled a visit to the Interoperability Lab during June 2007, 7 and two licensees are in the process of scheduling dates for participation. One of these is a File Sharing licensee that plans to visit the lab during the second half of 2007. C. Plug-fests As noted in previous Status Reports, Microsoft hosted its first plug-fest, which was for licensees of the Media Streaming Protocols, on December 12-14, 2006. Two additional plugfests are planned. The File Server Protocols plug-fest is scheduled to take place from April 30 to May 3, 2007. Four licensees have signed up for this event. The initial Authentication and Certificate Services Protocols plug-fest will be held during the second or third quarter of 2007. III. Technical Documentation Team Staffing Robert Muglia, the Senior Vice President for Microsoft's Server and Tools Business, continues to manage the documentation effort along with additional senior product engineering team managers. Altogether, 338 Microsoft employees and contingent staff are involved in work on the MCPP technical documentation. Given the substantial overlap between the MCPP and the European Work Group Server Protocol Program, all of these individuals devote their efforts to work that relates to both programs or that is exclusive to the MCPP. Of these, approximately 150 product team engineers and program managers are actively involved in the creation and review of the technical content of the documentation. In addition, there are approximately 24 full-time employees and 46 contingent staff working as technical writers, editors, and production technicians. In addition, as the protocol testing effort has started, there are now 20 full-time employees and over 50 contingent staff and vendor staff working as software test designers, test engineers, and test architects. Significant attention and involvement in the technical documentation and the MCPP extend through all levels of the Microsoft organization and draw upon the resources of numerous product engineering, business, technical, and legal groups, as well as company management. 8 IV. Windows Vista and XP Related Matters In the most recent Joint Status Report, Microsoft informed the Court that it would provide updates on ISV Readiness for Windows Vista in future Joint Status Reports. Independent of its Vista activity, Microsoft has been working cooperatively to address a number of changes requested by the TC concerning Windows XP, the OEM Preinstallation Kit, and other Microsoft applications, irrespective of whether these requests relate to Microsoft's middleware and default obligations under Sections III.C and III.H of the Final Judgments. Microsoft will work with the TC in the upcoming weeks concerning these matters and will update the Court in future reports. Dated: April 16, 2007 Respectfully submitted, FOR DEFENDANT MICROSOFT CORPORATION /s/ CHARLES F. RULE CHARLES F. RULE (DC BAR No. 370818) Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004-2505 (202) 639-7300 BRADFORD L. SMITH MARY SNAPP DAVID A. HEINER, JR. Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 (425) 936-8080 9 STEVE L. HOLLEY RICHARD C. PEPPERMAN II Sullivan & Cromwell LLP 125 Broad Street New York, NY 10004 (212) 558-4000 10

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