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Apparently regulators want to avoid repeating a mistake they made in 2004, when Redmond was ordered to sell a version of Windows in Europe without its media player; a measure which received poor reception among consumers and didn’t really improve competition all that much. This time, the commission wants computers to display a window when they are first booted up that would give consumers a choice of browsers.
Opera agrees with that scenario, claiming Microsoft’s move “seems almost purposely designed to make fun of the commission and to make it unnecessarily look bad.” And why wouldn’t they; a browser-less Windows 7 would theoretically give them the chance of striking an exclusive deal with PC makers to include their Opera browser as default with new machines, but in reality the company might have a hard time taking advantage of this new landscape when competing with the deep pockets of Google.
Maybe I’m missing something but it seems to me that asking Microsoft to go out of their way and pre-install rival browsers is a bit much, and perhaps even hypocritical of Opera which claims to have consumer’s best interests in mind. PC vendors are already free to ship other browsers with their machines, so I don’t see how allowing this and agreeing to strip IE8 from Windows constitutes anticompetitive behavior. If such a measure is imposed, what’s to stop other software makers from forcing their way into Windows on claims of unfair competition?
User Comments: 41
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Yep this is silly. Fine, ship it without the browser. What next? Windows 7 isnt shipping with a full Office suite - does that mean that it now has to offer options to download all other available office suites to avoid unfair competition? MS arent bundling an Office Suite so I guess this is anti-competitive.
Where does it end? If it isnt enough to remove a type of software from the Operating system who is to say Windows 7 shouldnt be sold with links to every piece of software released by a competitor for every category of software not included with Windows?
The poster who commented on the EU reliance on MS money to top up their bank roll is right. Its absurd. I like the idea that Microsofts actions are said to be making the regulators look "unnecessarily bad" - it doesn't take much does it? You can't polish a turd.
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Windows is an operating system,a complete operating system,as such it operates everything it needs to on a PC,so for this reason should contain everything needed to operate a pc,which in this day and age ,is primarily used to gain access to the internet,so Windows 7 should include IE8.If the EU want to complain about it they should have leaflets printed up,for PC manufacturers to distribute with their systems,listing alternative browsers,media players,etc etc,and how they can be downloaded,where from,and all info they require to do so,then people who want a change,can do just that,as they can already,no matter what OS they use.
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The EU commision has not a clue about computers. They probably think they need bump starting on a cold day.
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Darth Shiv said:
nunjabusiness said:captain828 said:seanp789 said:So if Windows comes without an internet browser, how are you supposed to get on the internet to download a competing internet browser?
Quote of the day!
Actually, you used to be able to use Windows Explorer (the file manager) as a browser. A few years back, I often used it when IE didn't work right (back when I still used XP.)
Does that not work anymore?
That is the whole reason for this debacle. As another poster noted, it is because IE was tied in and Windows Explorer used IE's rendering engine to display pages.
If MS didn't "couple" the browser with windows in the first place, then the s^&t-storm that resulted would never have happened and the EU wouldn't be smacking them for it for the next umpteen years.
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Most people are content just to use Internet Explorer, but those of us who know better will look else where for a better browser. The majority of people wouldn't know what to do with a choice of browser and still get Internet Explorer on grounds of familiarity. It's unreasonable to ask a company to offer it's competitors products, no matter how much it dominates the market.
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Kinda funny the EU is firing off an antitrust law suite over FREE products. I think if MS has to issue their software product with competing products, MS should have the ability to charge any of the competitors that want their browser listed on MS's operating system.
This is just another plot by the EU to steal money from MS and keep the lawyers working. The next thing you know Dell will have to ship their pc's in an HP case with a lenovo keyboard, logitec mouse and a viewsonic monitor.
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fimbles said:
Total hipocrisy....
Firefox, safari, ect say microsoft is monopolising the market by giving away a free internet browser with every version of windows..
How will they solve this?
By bundling THEIR free internet browsers with windows by force....
Double standards anyone??
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Well, EU have done it again... I was on EU bashing warpath for their overly eager regulatory practices for a while. I agree with the fact that IE got its current market share primarily due to being bundled with the OS. However, right now, it's kind of pointless - no longer it's a choice between Netscape and IE, people can install whatever browser they want with several mainstream ones being very effective, easily available and FREE. Netscape got screwed not because it was worse, but mainly because it was charging money ($50, if I remember correctly) while IE was free. Right now switching costs between browsers are ZERO. For a bulk of users there is no learning curve altogether - type the address, hit enter, DUH!
Right now, ANYTHING that EU would suggest except making IE8 removable would hurt competition. If other developers would need to provide the disks to the manufacturers, it would increase the developers' costs. If the OEM would need to install browsers themselves, that would increase their costs. If I need to uninstall four out of five browsers from my machine, that would piss me off. Nice going, EU!
Unfortunately, I do not see the regulators complaining about Apple OS and Safari for a long time - one of prerequisites for an antitrust case is a significant market share. Which Apple doesn't have, especially in Europe.
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Pull out of Europe... let them develop their own o/s. I'm sick of this shit.
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I suspect this has more to do with the EU descision makers being out of touch with Microsoft products since they can afford Mac Book Pros on their expense-inflated salaries. Also "Zafaree, eet eez much more styleesh, hein?"
Bill, meet them in the underground carpark with a few briefcases full of cash and you'll hear no more about 'competition'....
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if you actually know which browser you want, won't you already know how to download it? people that know how to use computers know how to download browsers. people that don't know how to use computers don't need a choice of 10 browsers to choose from.
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Who does Guest think he is?
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google isn't nearly that good or big
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Hehe, always funny seeing the difference in way of thinking between US and Eu ppl. For those not-informed one, its not EU that's making problem, but the company that started the lawsuit, in this case Opera. So, pls, stop cry-baby routine, and yeah people in EU would be really sad if Micro$oft decide not to sell Win7 here. Like someone will decide to use it once it's available?! Vista, someone??
And, not to forget, there is something called democracy and freedom to choose, so why is it bad for ppl to have choice at first start-up?? Is Microsoft worried that nobody will use IE at the end? Greeting from EU
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Meh, nonsense. Is Opera going to get money from MS? Of course not.
And you are missing the point. How do you download another browser without using a browser in the first place? Magic mayhaps?
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JDoors said:
bavon said:I suspect this has more to do with the EU descision makers being out of touch with Microsoft products since they can afford Mac Book Pros on their expense-inflated salaries. Also "Zafaree, eet eez much more styleesh, hein?"
Bill, meet them in the underground carpark with a few briefcases full of cash and you'll hear no more about 'competition'....
Classic!
And Guest from the EU, you have a point that it was not the EU but a company that started this whole debacle, but who decides how this gets resolved? The original question has long since been resolved and the EU courts COULD say, "Jeez, just STFU already," but on and on it goes ...
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