Are you happy with your browser? Microsoft to offer browser choice to all users

Fri 19 Feb 2010 Comment

Microsoft to lose browser stranglehold from March

Microsoft has announced this week that it will be offering a browser selection to all users of its Internet Explorer browser, as a result of an 'agreement' between the company's legal team and the European Competition Commission.

In January last year the Competition Commission ruled that Microsoft's policy of shipping all Windows machines with Internet Explorer as the default browser contravened antitrust legislation. Following a fair amount of legal wrangling, Microsoft agreed to offer users a 'browser ballot' - which would present users with a variety of browsers to choose from.

The ballot screen is still being tested by Microsoft, but when it is rolled out, browsers including Firefox, Safari and Opera will be presented to users as options, along with a little information about each one. The choices will be displayed in a random order as agreed with the Competition Commission. The roll-out is set to begin in early March, with the ballot being pushed to all European XP, Vista and Windows 7 users via  Windows Updates.

The ruling also allows PC manufacturers to ship machines with an alternative default browser if they so choose.

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