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Details Emerge On EU-Only "Browser Choice" Screen For Windows

Posted by timothy on from the what-would-sun-tzu-do dept.

Simmeh writes "Microsoft have posted screenshots and details on their upcoming 'web browser choice screen.' Requirements include being in Europe, and having Internet Explorer set as your default browser. It comes with a few surprises, as the software automatically unpins Internet Explorer from your taskbar, and offers 11 alternative browsers."

6 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. Post-ballot data by RightSaidFred99 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Be interesting to see if this has any effect on browser usage statistics. Would be hilariously funny if IE actually gains traction. I doubt it though, I don't think IE8 is bad at all but even I use Firefox.

    1. Re:Post-ballot data by Wintywasthere · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Based on the recent bad press that IE has had...I really doubt it'll gain anything. To be fair though the people that see this and then haven't already made a browser choice probably haven't seen many recent press releases about browsers. I'm guessing they'll go with the (probably well presented) Microsoft option..

  2. No longer true! by MonTemplar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Windows Update has been separated from IE in both Vista and Windows 7 - and apparently it will be backported to XP at some point in the future.

    -MT.

    --
    -MT.
  3. 11 is a crafty choice by MS by dalhamir · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's a decent amount of research (although, somewhat controversial) suggesting that providing too many choices may actually impede our ability to make rational choices, and would be less likely to experiment with an unfamiliar browser. Overview of some of the research can be found on the Freakonomics blog: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/is-the-paradox-of-choice-not-so-paradoxical-after-all/

  4. 11 browsers? by jc42 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My first thought was "Can I tell it to load all 11 of them?" If so, it could make the Windows box useful for real web testing.

    I do most of my actual testing on my Macbook Pro, because I have 9 browsers installed there. I also have a linux box with 5 browsers installed. My wife has a Windows XP partition on her iMac that has 3 browsers. For most of these, we had to download them and install them ourselves. A working package of 11 browsers could be really handy, especially when it comes time to reformat and reinstall, which happens quite often with "lab" testing machines.

    Anyone know if MS's browser installer has an "All of them" choice?

    --
    Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
  5. javascript randomness by crispi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    random my ass!

    only appears to be random if you have javascript working (thanks noscript!) - Otherwise IE8 appears first on the list, on the left.