Microsoft refused to confirm this for me directly, but according to an unnamed source in The New York Times, Redmond is on the verge of settling its dispute with the European Commission (the EU's law-enforcement body and antitrust watchdog) over the integration of Internet Explorer 8 into Windows 7.

The EC had originally objected to a preinstalled IE 8 on the basis that it would give Microsoft an unfair advantage over other browser manufacturers. Seeking to avoid the need to ship an IE-free version of Windows 7 to Europe, Microsoft suggested that it would install an automatic "ballot screen" that would allow users to select between IE 8 and a competing Web browser.

Microsoft had originally planned to list the browsers alphabetically on the ballot screen--doubtlessly a source of ire for Opera, which would find itself listed after Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. But Mozilla and Google apparently objected as well, reportedly asking the Commission in November to make last-minute changes to any agreement surrounding the ballot screen.

If the Times report is to be believed, the Commission did, and Microsoft agreed. According to the paper, Microsoft "has agreed to randomly generate the logos of the major browser makers on the ballot screen, as well as ... remove the Windows Internet Explorer logo from the screen frame."

Talk about being forced to duel with one hand behind your back.

Microsoft is understandably anxious to wrap up its varius EC issues before EC Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, a known quantity to Redmond, steps down in favor of Joaquin Almunia, who currently serves as commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs. Almunia was formerly the Socialist party candidate for prime minister of Spain in 2000, which I'm guessing does not make him the friendliest to big corporations.

But Microsoft may dodge that particular bullet: On Dec. 3, Bloomberg quoted sources--who, as with the Times story, declined to be identified "because the terms of the settlement aren't public"--as saying the agreement between Microsoft and the EU may be finalized as soon as Dec. 15.

And that would give Microsoft some relief. After all, relations between Redmond and the EC have never been particularly warm and cheerful, what with that $631 million fine leveled against Microsoft in 2004 for allegedly monopolistic business practices.

Putting the bulk of such acrimony in the past--at least with regard to the EU--may be one of the best ways for Microsoft to kick off the soon-to-arrive new decade.