Microsoft and its long-time adversary of the European Commission may finally make peace, with Microsoft officials saying the company will allow Windows OS users to choose their own Internet browsers.
Windows has bundled its own Internet Explorer Web browser as the default browser for several versions of Windows -- and routinely makes it difficult, if not downright impossible, to remove the browser -- which has led to frustration among European antitrust regulators.
In mid January, the European Commission said Microsoft intentionally blocked rival browsers, such as Opera or Mozilla Firefox, which reduced innovation and limited the choice of consumers.
IE remains the most popular Web browser used today, but has lost ground to Firefox and other competing Web browsers. In theory, if Windows 7 truly ships without IE or allows users to easily uninstall IE and run whatever browser they want, then Microsofts' browser is about to take an even larger market hit.
"We believe that if ultimately accepted, this proposal will fully address the European competition law issues relating to the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows and interoperability with our high-volume products," Microsoft officials said in a statement released to the media. "This would mark a big step forward and would be good news for European consumers and our partners in the industry."
Microsoft's decision to install IE into its OS by default makes perfect sense, but that doesn't mean it's right. If IE users are happy using the browser, then they have all right to use it in future editions of the OS -- and now supporters of other browsers have the ability to uninstall IE and do as they please.
