Microsoft attributes Windows crash to EU-enforced ‘interoperability’ deal – Computerworld

In addition to the Windows Client and Server operating systems, software manufacturers, in accordance with the agreement, are also provided with federated access to Microsoft desktop applications: SharePoint, Outlook and Exchange, and the .NET environment.

Interestingly, the EU has not been able to agree on such terms with Apple or Google, and both macOS and ChromeOS, respectively, remain free from any inclusiveness commitments. This may have something to do with how different these companies are from Microsoft in terms of their business models. Apple operates a closed integration of its software, while Google’s open-source Android platform already provides a lot of transparency.

CrowdStrike outage was avoidable

While the agreement itself aims to ensure a fair competitive environment by allowing third-party software vendors to integrate and work seamlessly with Microsoft products, it is not as beneficial from a security perspective as it opens up critical Microsoft systems to third-party access and can sometimes even lead to massive disruptions, as was the case with the recent CrowdStrike patch fiasco.