Europe to Test Microsoft Browser Ballot System
Finally, Microsoft has come up with a browser ballot screen the European Union likes.
The EU was not going to approve Windows 7 without a way for users to choose a browser other than Internet Explorer. Microsoft had taken a first pass at a browser ballot, but the EU didn’t like that one. Now, in the second go-round, Redmond has come up with something that passes muster.
The new ballot allows browsers to be easily downloaded from the ballot screen; doesn’t favor any one browser—not even IE—over another; includes a little introduction to each browser; and presents browser choices alphabetically.
If this is really the end of Microsoft’s long browser battle in Europe, the company can breathe a sigh of relief.
In January, the European Commission announced that Microsoft violated European competition law by bundling its Internet Explorer browser with Windows. As a result, Microsoft announced on June 11 that it would ship a version of Windows 7 in Europe without a browser, dubbed Windows 7 E.
All in all, if EU Approves Test of Windows 7 ‘Browser Ballot’ at last, we may see such a situation: IE may lose more market share in Europe while other browsers will gain more market share st the same time. But what does Opera will do next step?
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