In the rapidly evolving technology industry, software platforms offer the benefits of innovation broadly to a wide "ecosystem" of partners and competitors. As successful high tech companies develop new products and platforms, they must balance the demand of consumers and partners for cutting-edge technology with the need to fully preserve opportunities for others to offer technologies that may complement or compete with parts of the platform itself.

As Microsoft prepares to launch Windows Vista, enhancements to its Windows platform are being closely watched by customers, partners, competitors and antitrust authorities. This scrutiny is informed by more than ten years of analysis of the development of the Windows operating system by antitrust enforcement officials and courts, in the United States and abroad.

The New America Foundation invites you to attend this policy luncheon address by Brad Smith, General Counsel of Microsoft, who will share Microsoft's competitive vision and guiding principles for the Windows Vista operating system and future Windows operating system releases.