Facing new antitrust investigations in Europe, Microsoft published 30,000 pages of previously secret software code for its ubiquitous Windows operating system on its Web site Thursday, in what the company described as a significant concession toward greater openness and compatibility with competitors. It lost a landmark court case in Europe last autumn and in October abandoned its appeal of the commission's judgment in 2004 that it had abused the dominance of its Windows operating system to gain unfair market advantages. But the legal surrender, coming at the end of almost a decade of litigation, did not end Microsoft's problems in Europe. In January, the commission opened two new investigations into Microsoft's business practices - one related to the interoperability of its Office suite, server and open-document format, and the other into its practice of bundling software applications like its Internet Explorer Web browser into Office.

Microsoft said it would sell licenses to individuals and companies wishing to sell products developed from its software coding. Brad Smith, Microsoft's general legal counsel, said the concessions were real and not just meant to sway European regulators. But critics said Microsoft's claims were overblown, and noted that businesses wanting to sell a product based on Microsoft software would have to pay substantial license fees.

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