Looks like the EU has had enough of Microsoft's stalling in complying with a 2004 court order to stop using high licensing fees for its Windows patents to stifle competition. Even last week's announcement of peace, love and openness wasn't enough to impress European regulators, who today slapped Microsoft with a fine of 899 million euros, which is one dollar for every kilometer from the Earth to Saturn, and is a lot of copies of Microsoft Bob any way you look at it.

(By the way, if all of the 899 million euros Microsoft was fined were stacked one on top of the other, the stack wouldn't reach Saturn. In fact, it probably would get blown over by wind long before the stack was finished.)

"Microsoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy that the commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an antitrust decision,'' EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in the statement announcing the fine. She also pointed out that last week's Microsoft announcement was the fifth time that Microsoft said they would work to improve interoperability, with little satisfactory results to date.

"Talk is cheap,'' Kroes said. "Let's wait and let's find the reality in this case. They have to deliver and implement.''