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How Europe's Mandated Browser Ballot Screen Works
CWmike writes "After an 11-month legal face-off, Microsoft and European antitrust officials signed off yesterday on the ballot screen concept that will give Windows users a chance to download rivals' browsers. But now that the battle's over and the ink has dried, it's time to look closely. Some FAQ examples: What's Microsoft promised? How will it work? How many browsers will be on the ballot? Who decides which browsers? Who will see it?"
The proper solution would have been for Windows to go back to the while idea of there being a "Windows Explorer" and an "Internet Explorer". Like 95 had. Windows explorer (explorer.exe) just ran the GUI Shell. The Ballot screen would be a small program that downloads the programs and installs them.
But that really wouldn't have dented MS's near-monopoly.
If governments really wanted to give MS a run for its money, the following stigma would have had to be made:
Makers of x86 applications should have been mandated to produce a (Generic) Linux, Windows, and OSX port of all their software. That means Quicken, that means Adobe, that means, everyone else. Makers of hardware needed to be mandated to make a Windows, Linux, and OSX driver for their device. Before the fanboys who talk about how the Linux Kernel changes so much, Nvidia does this very well with the Dynamic Kernel Management (DKMS) Shim. And the rest of their driver stays closed source. So we know this works annd can be done.
Your point is very valid indeed.
Also, where are the news posts about Apple being sued for it's operations regaring:
1) The iphone monopoly per provider per country
2) The appstore
3) Various applications in OS X
It feels like the EU actions are very one-sided.