In its formal complaint to Microsoft, the European Commission (EC) has drawn attention to the software company's failure in adhering to browser choice commitments; and has warned that it may initiate a probe into the company's forthcoming Windows 8 OS if there is any lapse in fulfilling the commitments on web browser choice.

With Microsoft having recently acknowledged its mistake of not including the browser choice feature in its February 2011-released Windows 7 Service Pack 1, the preliminary statement of objections which the EC has sent to Microsoft underlines the fact that the company has now raised similar concerns over its next-generation Windows 8 OS which is scheduled to be launched on October 26.

In its formal complaint, the EC said that, from February last year till July this year, the browser choice screen has not been made available to the Windows users in the European Union; and added that Microsoft had already admitted that "the choice screen was not displayed during that period."

While Microsoft has attributed the mentioned lapse to a technical error, EC Commissioner Joaquin Almunia recently said during a press conference that he was in touch with the "highest level" executives at Microsoft to warn the company that it should not repeat its earlier mistake with the Windows 8 package.

Almunia told the press conference that it was imperative that Microsoft does not overcomplicate the web browser choice "if they don't want to take the risk of a new investigation."