EU exec says Microsoft replies to antitrust charges

BRUSSELS, April 29 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) has responded to EU antitrust charges that it sought to thwart rivals by bundling its Web browser with its Windows PC operating system, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

"We will study it carefully," a Commission spokesman said.

The European Union executive charged the U.S. software giant on Jan. 15 with infringing EU rules by abusing its dominant position.

Microsoft and the EU have wrangled over antitrust issues for years. The Commission fined it a record 899 million euros in February last year for discouraging software competition, the largest penalty ever imposed on a company at the time. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Will Waterman)