Microsoft Changes Browser Ballot Screen As EU Deal Nears

Robert B | Dec 05, 2009 | View Comments

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Prior to the release of Windows 7, Microsoft were getting all sorts of headaches from the EU, the antitrust case was sparked off by Opera in December 2007, saying that Microsoft was shielding Internet Explorer from real competition by bundling it with every version of Windows. So to make things fair, the commissioner wanted the consumers to decide what browser they installed.

Microsoft agreed to this Ballot Screen in July as a way to resolve the case. It would present consumers with a windowshowing, IE, Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari. The user could then choose which browser they wanted installed on their system. Originally the browsers were to be displayed in alphabetical order, but last month, Opera, Mozilla and Google all submitted change requests.

Now it appears that the browser ballot screen will display the browsers in a random order every time. The ballot screen was originally intended to be displayed in Internet Explorer, but now it seems Microsoft will be displaying it as its own application. So now , the top five browsers — IE, Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Apple’s Safari — will appear in random order each time the ballot is displayed.

Brower Ballot Screen

Mozzila were very against Microsofts original ballot screen idea claiming that it gave IE more than three times the space of other browsers. Hakon Wium Lie, Opera’s chief technology officer, is much happier with the new ballot layout since

Alphabetizing would just lead to opportunistic naming.We could call ourselves AAA Browser Maker and get the first spot.”

The new browser ballot screen may finalized as early as Dec. 15 when EU commissioners meet to vote on the issue. And if they are happy with it, Microsoft will have 8 weeks to push out an update to all Windows Xp, Vista and Windows 7 machines – about mid February.

When the ballot screen is approved and pushed out to computers, users who have IE set as their default browser will be offered a choice of browsers. New PCs in the EU will also be sold with this ballot screen and the first time they try to access the internet they will be presented with this ballot.

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Filed Under: Discussion • Windows 7 News

Tags: ballot screen • Browser • browser ballot • Browsers • chrome • EU • european union • internet browsers • internet explorer • Microsoft • opera • safari • vista • web browser • Windows 7 • windows vista • windows xp • XP

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About the Author: Robert from Ireland is keen on all things tech. An avid Windows user, he designs websites and helps with troubleshooting computers. He hopes to pursue a future career in the I.T. area and is currently running two websites Techinfo-4u.com and Next iPhone News.com as well as writing for Windows7News and Connected Internet

Down
I am not a fan of Internet Explorer at all but it does not seem fair to make Microsoft do this.

clcrutch
I think that this is just the government trying to control companies. At least where I come from, the citizens would frown upon the fact that the government has that much control over a private sector company.

andor9x
Felix has made a good point

the cry-babies at Opera made mistake; but some of us expected this type of thing from a browser with just over 2% of web users

I usually use Safari as my default browser only because it's a nice browser in terms of looks; ok it has a few bugs; but so has Firefox; IE & Chrome

the EU should have told Opera to *beep* off; and that business about ordering the BBS (browser ballot screen) was childish at the least

I personally use Safari; IE; Firefox & Chrome. I've tried Opera and it is a piece of *beep*

& the BBS should be pushed through OS/X & Google Chrome OS; considering that they both come with a browser built in

Stephen
The EU was hardly trying to "make things fair." They were (and are) pushing a protectionist agenda to advance a struggling European company. Microsoft also did not "agree" to a ballot - they proposed it. Microsoft is hardly an innocent in all of this but the EU's policies wouldn't last a week if the US government responded to protectionist/nationalist trade policies in technology in the same way they handle the industrial/hard goods trade practices of the Chinese and other Asian countries.

BTW, Apple does get attacked as well, just not in the computer market where they have such a tiny market share. The EU's efforts against Apple have been with the iPod. I think there will also be a push on the iPhone. The fact that they only target US companies in the market sectors in which they are more successful, and where there is an EU agenda to expand the market share of European companies is more than enough demonstration that this is simply old fashioned protectionism cast in the realm of new technology....

Stephen

Felix
this is all opera's doing. do they think by complaining to EU, this will increase their market share? I hate the prospect of MS not including any browser - I was planning to avoid EU release of Windows 7. I always choose IE as my default browser soon after installing windows to the moment I finished installing all the programme, upon which I will install firefox and make it my default. because of opera doing this, I loathe that browser now, and the likelyhood of me using their browser is smaller. I also install chrome, and i use it to open my e-mails.