EU to levy huge fine on Intel, hearing set for Microsoft

Microsoft and Intel are taking it on the chin in Europe these days. On Wednesday, the EU is expected to bring down a heavy fine on Intel for its myriad anticompetitive activities at the expense of AMD. The Wall Street Journal reports it will be one of the biggest fines in the EU's history.

The anticompetetition commissioner can fine Intel as much as 10 percent of its annual revenue. That would be a $3.8 billion fine based on 2008 revenue, more than triple the $1.16 billion charged to Microsoft for noncompliance in the EU's long-running antitrust action against Redmond.

And speaking of Redmond, we can expert a hearing June 3-5 on charges that Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows is an antitrust violation, PCWorld reports.

The Europen Commission could fine Microsoft, force it to offer other browsers, or require a "kill switch" in Windows that would disable IE.

Microsoft has added a "kill switch" of sorts to Windows 7 that will let users prevent IE8 from running. Opera's CEO, however, has said that he considers Microsoft's move to be insufficient. The company's Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), which is expected to publicly launch tomorrow, will be the first chance most users have of testing that kill switch.