No IE onboard Windows 7 in Europe
news.bbc.co.uk
news.bbc.co.uk
If not, blatant double standards given Apple's market share is increasing.
EDIT - another thought, since access to internet via phones is becoming more widespread, will the EU start imposing the same policies on mobile phone manufacturers...
EDIT #2 - Personally I think if the EU wants to force competition in the browser market, they should ensure that users get a choice of browsers with the pre-installed OS, otherwise with the browser not being included is potentially stumping the growth of internet availability to people who otherwise wouldn't have it.
Just to be clear, I'm not anti-Apple, I just dislike silly rulings that in themselves are anti-competitive, given they only apply to one company.
That said, I think the browser market is competitive enough nowadays that MS including a browser really is not that big a deal - OSes include browsers in the same way that cars come with steering wheels. I think this is more about punishing MS for past transgressions than anything else.
The European Comission: "If the Commission were to find that Microsoft had committed an abuse, the Commission has suggested that consumers should be offered a choice of browser, not that Windows should be supplied without a browser at all."
That's quite a different situation than what MS imply with their response.
The EC is probably referring to Windows XP N, which didn't include a media player at all, and sort of left users in the dark as to how to play media files using it. I'm sure MS got some criticism from that from the EU and will not repeat the mistake.
I still don't understand why this is wrong. It's their os, let them do whatever they want with it. There are other operating systems around. They don't need to use Windows.
user of browser knows 'alternative ...';; returns "distinctions packages missing';
Come to think of it, I can't think of any current desktop-based OS that doesn't come with a Web browser installed by default..
The whole anti-competition lawsuit over this stuff was based on early 2000s assumptions. It's time to forget all about it now and let MS get on with it.
Although in this point in time, I think the browser market has become competitive enough that people know of other choices and will make the effort to install them. A most people have come to expect that IE will be on the computer, and would be more annoyed if it did not, unless it came preinstalled with their browser of choice.
It's a shame that they choose to provide no browsers instead of providing a few
Why not unbundle Explorer? Why not unbundle the control panel? Isn't it unfair that Notepad is included? What about Calculator.. surely that's hurting Mathematica? (Before you think I'm going over the top here, IE compared to Firefox is like Calculator vs Mathematica IMHO..) These EU commissions are run by dim-witted politicos who fail to understand any of the realities of technology or business.
Consider if all manufactured cars came with a really crappy "default" radio with horrible sound. The majority of drivers would choose to upgrade the radio to a better one, thus making the marketplace for car radios a healthier, more competitive one. If the cars came with amazing radios built in, hardly anyone would switch.