EU Could Force Bundling Firefox With Windows

Barence writes "The European Commission could force Microsoft to bundle Firefox with future versions of Windows. The revelation came as part of Microsoft's quarterly filing with the Security and Exchange Commission. Among the statements is a clause outlining the penalties being considered by the European watchdog, which recently ruled that Microsoft is harming competition by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows. The most interesting situation outlined in the filing would see either Microsoft or computer manufacturers forced to install Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari by default alongside Internet Explorer on new Windows-based PCs."

Comments

Re:And What of the Others?

[Smidge207]

Never forget, computers are wonderful tools, but for most subjects students learn at that point in their lives (middle/high school in the US), computers aren't necessary. Think about the primary subjects - Math, Science, and Literature/Writing - where do you see the benefits in using computers? Obviously for English classes, having access to computers to type papers is handy, but it's hardly necessary. Computers can be used in math to help illustrate concepts, but you don't want the students using computers to do their work, otherwise they won't know how to do it without them. And much of science is math - again, not something you want students using computers for.

=Smidge=

Re:Where will it end?

[RMH101]

...which should be enough for anyone!
I'm here all week, try the veal.

Re:Yeah, like that will work.

[Anonymous Coward]

To have Opera claim MS "monopoly" excludes them is ludicrous

Actually, Opera's claim is not specifically about Opera. It's about Microsoft breaking the law, which affects everyone, not just Opera.

would never have known of them except because of the lawsuit.

Opera didn't sue anyone. It is not a lawsuit. Opera simply reported Microsoft's violation of the law to the authorities, similar to what you would do if you witnessed a robbery.

We can't succeed on our own

Opera is currently the dominant mobile browser. Opera Software is experiencing massive growth in every single business segment (including the desktop version) every single quarter, is profitable, and has a large pile of cash saved up.

we can force our way onto millions of PC, whether or not people actually want our stuff

So it's OK for Microsoft to illegally force themselves on people, but it is not OK for someone to protest? Opera never made any demands to be forced on anyone. Opera simply wants actual competition.

I know, lets go after iPhones next because its not fair that Apple has a monopoly there.

Your whole comment demonstrates your lack of knowledge and understanding of the matter. You are ignorant, and are spreading FUD about Opera. This last comment of yours shows that you are either extremely ignorant or extremely dishonest. Apple/iPhone is not a monopoly, and certainly not an illegal one.

Have you ever heard of pronouns?

OS's are now part of National Security!

[John Sokol]

Governments globally are starting to realize that the OS that it's citizens use are more then just some toy, but an integral part of communications and a nations GNP, and security.
As govs become more aware of how damaging cyberattacks are, they are realizing that they need to start regulating the Operating system that 90% of there population is using.

So they are just running out of patients with Microsoft's games. It's not just the EU, but India, Russia, China, and many Asian and South American countries.

So we are just seeing the beginning of a trend. A good one if you ask me too.

One that will really level the playing field of Linux.

We really need Windows to ship with something like the Synaptic package manager, that allow many applications to be searchable and super easy online installation.

This way user and see a menu of browsers to choose from and can install several with just the click of a mouse.