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Microsoft's browser ballot nears EU approval

by Parm Mann on 7 December 2009, 13:50

Tags: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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Microsoft's proposed browser ballot may soon be approved by the European Union.

The ballot, first revealed in July as part of an ongoing effort to comply with EU law, would present European consumers who buy a new PC with Internet Explorer set as its default browser with a ballot screen from which they could easily install a browser of their choice.

The proposal, introduced as a last-minute alternative to Microsoft's previous plans to offer browser-less versions of Windows to European consumers, had been welcomed by the EU but faced further criticism from Microsoft's main rivals in the browser market.

Complaints from Opera, Mozilla and Google requested that Microsoft revamp the layout of its proposed browser ballot, with a randomised listing of alternate browsers a repeated request.

Opera's chief technology office, Hakon Wium Lie, also suggested that Microsoft should display the browser ballot outside of its Internet Explorer application, adding that security warnings should also be disabled for consumers opting to download third-party browsers.

According to sources close to Computerworld.com, Microsoft has now overhauled its browser ballot and may be granted EU approval as soon as December 15th. Microsoft will then issue the ballot to users of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 via a Windows Update, with users who have Internet Explorer set as their default browser being prompted by the ballot to select their browser of choice.



HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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what's the point in doing it now? it's been out for age's, if they were going to do it, it should of been on release not a few months down the line.
if people wanted to get another browser they would of done it
Hexus
Microsoft will then issue the ballot to users of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 via a Windows Update, with users who have Internet Explorer set as their default browser being prompted by the ballot to select their browser of choice.

Really? Microsoft is going to show (in effect) all existing users of IE a page prompting them with an option to install a different browser.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure a huge proportion of those users won't have a clue what a browser is, and will just click the internet logo that they always click on (before forgetting the page ever came up), but still…. that's more of a concession than I thought they were offering. I thought they were only talking about people buying new computers or after a fresh OS install.
They really big up ‘Google Chrome: a new web browser for Windows’ compared to the other ones :p
I like how this browser ballot is displayed inside Internet Explorer. Way to be fair.