BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Restrictions placed on Microsoft Inc.'s Windows Vistaby South Korea's Fair Trade Commission will delay therelease of someversions of the new operating system in that country, said the software maker on Friday.

Microsoft intends tolaunch Windows Vista in Korea at the same time as it will in the rest of the world. But the software maker is still trying todecide which versions of the new operating system it can have ready.

Micrsoft said it will ship versions of Windows Vista Basic and Windows Vista Business that arecustomized to meet theprohibitions of Korean regulators. These will be delivered at the same time Microsoftmakes Vista available in other markets -- in November for large businesses, and more widely in January.

The hang up is the Ultimate, Home Premium and Enterprise versions of the operating system.

The company plans to have "K"-for Korea-versions of those products ready for its worldwide release. These versions would include links to media player and instant-messaging software from competitors, as required by a 2005 antitrust ruling by Korea's Fair Trade Commission.

"For Premium, Enterprise and Ultimate, we are actively working with the Korean FTC, and we remain optimistic we will be able to release the 'K' version at or near the time of the worldwide launch for Windows Vista," said Linda Norman, an associate general counsel for Microsoft.

For these editions, Microsoft also plans to release "KN" versions, which have the Media Center features removed. These KN versions will be introduced at the same time that Microsoft issues the first service pack for Vista, the company said. That service pack update usually arrives six months to a year after a product is released.

Vista Premium and Vista Ultimate include Media Center features that depend heavily on Windows Media Player, which has made it more difficult to figure out just what features the KN versions should include.

Korean regulators have also objected to Microsoft's bundling of an instant-messaging program with Windows. Unlike Windows XP, Vista does not have instant-messaging software included, though it does contain a link to the company's Windows Live Messenger program.

Microsoft said it will send out both "K" and "KN" versions of Vista Home Basic and Vista Business in the general worldwide launch. Enditem

(Agencies)