EU Accepts Microsoft's Browser Choice Promise

itwbennett writes "Hurrah! The European Commission's antitrust investigation of Microsoft's position in the browser market is over. The EC has accepted Microsoft's commitment to offer users of 'Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 a choice screen through which they can pick the browsers they want to install on their PC,' writes Peter Sayer in an article on ITworld. 'The screen will be offered to users in the European Union and some neighboring countries for the next five years via the Windows Update mechanism. In addition, PC manufacturers will be allowed to ship computers with competing Web browsers, as well as or instead of Internet Explorer.'"

Comments

Hurray!

[AlexiaDeath]

No more IE being forced down our throats... Except when we need to access our corporate intranet.

Re:Hurray!

[dotwhynot]

Which IE8 can't do, I think. Can you even install IE6 on Windows 7?

Only in VirtualXP mode. I believe Win7 is the best bet to get rid of most of the remaining IE6 users, because many corporation and governments that skipped the Vista upgrade cycle, and didn't want to update/certify intranet applications between cycles, will upgrade to Win7 (for many reasons). Let's hope they do it quickly. At least IE8 is a huge step in right direction.

Re:Hurray!

[aetherworld]

A lot of intranet applications require proprietary ActiveX / OCX controls, which only work in IE (I think). I've also seen quite a few intranet applications that run with VBScript, which also requires IE (again, I think).

Re:Hurray!

[nstlgc]

Vista and Windows 7 don't use IE for Microsoft Update, but nice try.

Re:Hurray!

[marsu_k]

IE8 is certainly a step in the right direction, and I will be so happy when IE6 finally eats flaming death; but there are still glaring omissions. Not that any browser is a model citizen in this regard, but IE is definitely worst. Now I'm aware that it is possible to work your way around the differences, I just finished a library to be used internally that emulates W3C-compliant DOM events in IE; but I'd rather spend my time doing actual development than working around browser bugs (which 99% of the time are caused by various incarnations of IE).

Re:Hurray!

[Anonymous Coward]

IE8 is still a PITA. One example: The most useful feature in web design, PNGs with alpha channels, is still horribly broken in IE8 when used in all but the most trivial ways. You can't simply combine them with the alpha(opacity) filter (which is Microsoft's weird way of working around the lack of CSS opacity support). There are even some cases which IE7 got right and IE8 screws up. Even in the cases where it seemingly works (i.e., it doesn't turn the alpha-channel into GIF like 1-bit transparency), IE8 and all IEs before it get alpha-channel PNGs with alpha-filter on top completely wrong. Buffoons.

Re:Hurray!

[IrquiM]

You haven't been working much in a corporate environment, have you?

Next up

[Nerdposeur]

Uberdork: "Now if only we could get them to ship Windows with a choice to use bash."

oh dear

[kennethmci]

sounds great - although, i can hear the customes complaining 'i cant find internet explorer'! i love the alternative browsers , but cant help feel the 'average consumer' doesn't really care that much? i have actually installed firefox on family members computers, and couldnt really answer ( with info that they found useful ) what the difference was... my family dont really care to much about usability compliance and security ( well - until theyre shot down themselves with it! )

Re:oh dear

[AlexiaDeath]

My dad certainly started to use the red ring thing for internet after I had to clean off porn spam off his PC. He is in his sixties and was somewhat embarrassed about it. The rest of the family does it because I named it The Internet and put it on the desktop. Since then time needed to spend cleaning both family computers during my home visits has gone down to about an hour per year. So the user might not care, but the tech savvy family member that gets the free cleanup work does.

Re:oh dear

[AlexiaDeath]

My parents use web based e-mail clients happily. I'm yet to see a free e-mail provider with MAPI. Gmail does POP and IMAP. Outlook does not do IMAP. POP3 just confuses them because it deletes all their mail from server and they can read it at other computers. That leaves Thunderbird, but honestly the Gmail web interface is better, if you have broadband and connection is always available.

Re:Hurrah?

[minsk]

When governments are not a huge customer of Microsoft, there might be some ground to complain about them being subject to anti-trust laws.

For the moment, "Microsoft tax" is far too literal. And your comment far too close to the usual silliness of reducing regulations on government-supported monopolies...

Depends on the description...

[ActionJesus]

Welcome to Windows!

Looks like you need to install a browser. Would you like:

A) Internet Explorer, the latest and most secure browser from Microsoft
B) Firefox, a browser made by terrorists that want access to your computer.

Re:This is only fair under one condition

[Tim C]

Seems to me if MS has to comply with this, Apple should be held to the same standard.

Apple is not in a monopoly position, MS is. Different rules apply when you are, specifically about abusing your monopoly power in one area (e.g. operating systems) to muscle your way into another (e.g. web browsers).

Re:past behaviour

[Anonymous Coward]

Anti-competitive behaviour is not like murder. That's an unfair comparison.

MS was fined 1.3 billion for past behaviour. This promise is needed for them not to get future fines:

http://slashdot.org/yro/08/02/27/1152208.shtml?tid=98

Re:Will this "FAIR" decision will include Apple?

[gbarules2999]

Microsoft is a convicted monopolist. They have lots of power (90% of computers) that triggers a group of laws that limits what they can do. Are you getting this in your brain?

Apple is under no legal obligation to sell anything on their hardware, nor is any other hardware vendor. They are not powerful enough to trigger the laws Microsoft has triggered, and therefore do not have any limitations on what they can ship their computers with.

Re:past behaviour

[Insanity Defense]

Yes, that's right. Supplying your own browser with your own operating system is analogous to murdering someone. Good work.

Microsoft did more than just supply a browser for their own OS. They forbade OEMS from installing any other browser. They programmed it into the system so that end users couldn't easily remove it. They did everything they could to KILL competing browsers. In short they used their OS monopoly to force a browser monopoly and that was and is illegal. Now attempts are being made to rebuild competition in the browser field.

Re:Yeah right.

[spitzak]

There is nothing wrong with IE being included. The big difference is that OTHER programs can be included.

Buried in the story about the "ballot box" is the REAL story: "In addition, PC manufacturers will be allowed to ship computers with competing Web browsers, as well as or instead of Internet Explorer."

The real deal is that OEM manufactures were NOT ALLOWED TO SHIP A COMPETITOR TO IE. Not at all as long as they wanted to keep their volume discout pricing for Windows. This is the REAL antitrust settlement. Microsoft astroturfers have managed to bury this fact under so much fud about the "browser ballot box" that it is almost hidden even here at Slashdot. Disgusting.

Re:I demand choice in my car as well

[AntiDragon]

General Motors have a 90% share in car sales worldwide? I'm shocked and awed!