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10 Jun 2009
Officials from the European Commission are said to be enlisting the help of rival browser vendors in their anti-trust dealings with Microsoft.
A report in The Wall Street Journal claims that the Commission has begun speaking with hardware and software vendors, including rival browser companies such as Opera, on ways in which Microsoft can allow for competition on Windows systems.
Among the ideas the Commission is said to be considering is forcing Microsoft to offer other browsers as automatic downloads.
The news is the latest in an ongoing battle between Microsoft and the European Union over its handling of Internet Explorer on Windows. The latest complaint was filed by Opera in January.
Microsoft is also in court with the EU over complaints about its willingness to provide interoperability information to developers, who have long claimed that the company deliberately makes it harder for certain third-party apps to work with Windows.
Microsoft did receive some good news last month when the EU relaxed its anti-trust oversight on future versions of Microsoft products.
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Not a valid comparison
@MaZx "How about OS X Snow Leopard?" If Apple had a 90% PC OS market share, then it would be exactly the same situation. Safari would be given an unfair advantage over other browsers & I'm sure similar EU action would be taken.
Posted by: HereAndNow 11 Jun 2009
How about OS X Snow Leopard?
How about it EU? or is it that you just want to push Microsoft around to cash in for yourself? Nobody seems to complain about apple products but every time there is always something going on with Microsoft left and right. In the end it's Microsoft faults. Tired of hearing EU's nonsense.
Posted by: MaZx 11 Jun 2009
PC vendor pre-installs
I suspect many/most people encounter a new OS (or OS version), through the purchase of a new PC, rather than by installing a new OS on an existing machine. Assuming this is the case, perhaps the browser issue could be partially alleviated, by requiring PC vendors to limit the installation of any one browser to say 25% of all new machines. This remedy would: 1. allow PC vendors to negotiate "pre-install" deals with browser vendors, to be 1 of the 4 (revenue for PC vendors). 2. prevent any browser vendor with deep pockets (Microsoft, Google,...) from 'purchasing' 100% share. 3. provide a channel for future browser vendors to bring their browser products into the mainstream. People purchasing these new PCs could stick with the browser that was pre-installed (which many do) or install a different browser and uninstall the original.
Posted by: HereAndNow 11 Jun 2009
Inherent Problem
One of the inherent problems with this whole thing is that generally to obtain a different Internet Browser you have to USE one. So naturally Microsoft cannot sell the OS without any browser, otherwise many less experienced users would have to get assistance from other individuals. Another option would be to build a system that would detect an internet connection and be able to prompt the user which browser to install, which would then commence. (Kind of like linux) They already do something similar to this when IE is first started it prompts what default search engine to use. Good point about Apple not being attacked for shipping their browser with OS X. MS is not requiring people use IE, just like Mac. Current systems only allow to install the browser if you use a browser to access it or you have an installation source on a disk or network share. Which many average users may not have access to.
Posted by: Phil 11 Jun 2009