No L 35/36 Official Journal of the European Communities 6. 2. 87 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 15 December 1986 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty (IV/31.458 — X/Open Group) (Only the German, English, French, Italian and Dutch texts are authentic) (87/69/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, first Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty ('), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, and in particular Articles 6 and 8 thereof, Having regard to the notification made on 19 August 1985 of a set of agreements, including the ‘Agreement for X/Open Group’ entered into between Compagnie des Machines Bull, France, Digital Equipment Corporation International (Europe), Switzerland, L. M. Ericsson, Sweden, International Computers Ltd, UK, Nixdorf Computer AG, Federal Republic of Germany, Ing. C. Olivetti & C. SpA, Italy, Philips International BV, The Netherlands, Sperry Corporation (now Unisys), USA, and Siemens  Aktiengesellschaft, Federal Republic of Germany, and to the subsequent agreement entered into’ in pursuance thereof between these undertakings and AT&T Information Systems Inc., USA, Having published a summary of the notification in accor- dance with Article 19 (3) of Regulation No 17 (3, After consulting the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions. () OJ No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62. () OJ No C 250, 7. 10. 1986, p. 2. Whereas : I. THE FACTS General background (1)  All computers require an operating system which supplies the operating instructions needed by the computer to carry out its functions. Historically, the concept of computer architecture has caused operating systems software to be tied very closely to the hardware components of the system, with the result that operating systems designed for one architecture could not normally be used on machines of a different architecture. The tasks which the users want their computers to do are carried out by application programs. Application programs are written for use with a particular operating system and can normally only function with that system. The investments of users in appli- cation programs are substantial. Users considering the acquisition of a new machine on which their present application programs cannot function do so in the knowledge that such a step may lead to a costly and time-consuming task in rewriting their existing programs or acquiring a range of new application programs. Users have, consequently, tended to be locked into the systems which they have acquired. This has meant a limitation of the choice of users and of the importance of price and quality as parameters in the competition between suppliers of hardware and software.