Monday, July 27th 2009
European Commission Welcomes New Microsoft Proposals on MSIE and Interoperability
The European Commission can confirm that Microsoft has proposed a consumer ballot screen as a solution to the pending antitrust case about the tying of Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser with Windows. This followed extensive discussions with the Commission which centred on a remedy outlined in the January 2009 Statement of Objections (see MEMO/09/15) whereby consumers would be shown a "ballot screen" from which they could - if they wished - easily install competing web browsers, set one of those browsers as a default, and disable Internet Explorer. Under the proposal, Windows 7 would include Internet Explorer, but the proposal recognises the principle that consumers should be given a free and effective choice of web browser, and sets out a means - the ballot screen - by which Microsoft believes that can be achieved. In addition OEMs would be able to install competing web browsers, set those as default and disable Internet Explorer should they so wish. The Commission welcomes this proposal, and will now investigate its practical effectiveness in terms of ensuring genuine consumer choice.
As the Commission indicated in June (see MEMO/09/272 ), the Commission was concerned that, should Microsoft's conduct prove to have been abusive, Microsoft's intention to separate Internet Explorer from Windows, without measures such as a ballot screen, would not necessarily have achieved greater consumer choice in practice and would not have been an effective remedy.
Microsoft has also made proposals in relation to disclosures of interoperability information that would improve the interoperability between third party products and Windows and Windows Server. Again, these proposals require further investigation before the Commission reaches any conclusion as to the next steps.
Microsoft's proposals will be published in full on its website. The Commission has no further comment at this stage.
Source:
Europa
As the Commission indicated in June (see MEMO/09/272 ), the Commission was concerned that, should Microsoft's conduct prove to have been abusive, Microsoft's intention to separate Internet Explorer from Windows, without measures such as a ballot screen, would not necessarily have achieved greater consumer choice in practice and would not have been an effective remedy.
Microsoft has also made proposals in relation to disclosures of interoperability information that would improve the interoperability between third party products and Windows and Windows Server. Again, these proposals require further investigation before the Commission reaches any conclusion as to the next steps.
Microsoft's proposals will be published in full on its website. The Commission has no further comment at this stage.
129 Comments on European Commission Welcomes New Microsoft Proposals on MSIE and Interoperability
Will they scrap it and just change all our pre-orders to the normal Windows 7? :confused:
The ballot screen will be rolled out as a critical update.
So I'm wondering if MS will just scrap 7 E completely and change all our pre-orders to full editions, or whether they will just confuse the pants off joe blogs and have about 3 different editions floating about.
i dont think there is enough time to delay the dvd production until the eu comission and everyone else is happy with ms's solution. an update can be engineered even a few days before launch
MS have said they will discontinue Windows 7 E if the Eu agrees to the ballot screen, at which time they will sell the full edition like the rest of the world gets in Europe.
So Im wondering if they will get their arses into gear and ship all the pre-orders as normal editions, or whether there will be a second Win 7 release in Europe with the full version a bit later on.
Why to go MS! :/
This is just female nitpicking, Kroes probably doesn't know how and where to find firefox, opera or whatever so she just wants MS to do it for her.
There are still sites, even big sites that don't fully work with Firefox, thats why i use both.
IE is as fast as Firefox. Though firefox takes a long ass time to start up, even on my machine, IE is open in a blink of an eye. Same favorites, not 1 extension in firefox (clean install, only favorites & cookies imported).
The EU's decision was wrong before and it is still wrong today. A court should not be permitted to force the developer of an application to include or exclude features.
I dont see Apple being sued for including Safari on just about every device they sell.
In other words, Apple can't contribute enough to EU's retirement fund to be worth fining them. :laugh:
...
:banghead:
one example: www.mimovrste.com/artikel/2740066025/namizni-racunalnik-apple-imac-24-266ghz-9860 :slap:
And user from US (who disagree with EU decision), use InternetSuxxplorer only for a week :D
Those who don't, probably have no idea what Windows 7 is, it will just appear pre-installed on their next computer with whatever browser the OEM decided to installed.
Which makes EU's argument completely null and void IMO.
Tho I must admit, having an SKU without IE, now that I've been converted to Opera is nice, and it will hopefully force devs to not make popups open in IE regardless of default settings. That said, it looks like 7 E could be canned. I'm downloading the RTM of E now, although it will add confusion, I still like the idea of receiving Windows 7 E.
Sure, IE is a terrible browser by many definitions. but for millions of users, it does everything they need it to.