"Microsoft proposed several names and finally the European Commission accepted the name adding the letter 'N' to the version without Media Player," a company spokesman said.

The commission imposed a record fine of 497 million euros (640 million dollars) on Microsoft in March 2004 for anti-competitive behavior and said it had to make available a version of its Windows software without the Media Player.

Real and other makers of software that allows computer users to listen to music and watch videos objected that by including Media Player as part of the Windows operating system, Microsoft made it more difficult for them to sell or distribute their products.

The new software would be available to customers as Windows XP Home Edition N or Windows XP Professional Version N.

EU regulators also required Microsoft to make available the information that producers of competing products needed to enable them to operate with Windows.

The European Commission wants the Windows software without Media Player to operate as efficiently as the original version.

Microsoft has argued that the Media Player, which can be downloaded free from the Internet, is an integral part of its operating system. Sources said there were still several technical problems to be resolved in removing the player.

The commission and Microsoft have also clashed on how the competition measures were to be applied and monitored.

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