Microsoft toes EC line: no IE in Windows 7 for Europe

Stephen Withers
Friday, 12 June 2009 06:20

IT Industry - Development

Much of the public commentary on Microsoft's unbundling of Windows and Internet Explorer is ill-informed.

Those asking why the EC doesn't prevent Apple from bundling Safari with Mac OS X overlook Microsoft's market dominance in the market for desktop and notebook operating systems.

Then there's the "how can you download a browser when you don't have a browser?" argument. Microsoft has made it clear that it will provide an "easy-to-follow" mechanism for installing Internet Explorer on Windows 7 E. And in any case, it's extremely likely that computer manufacturers will pre-install Internet Explorer.

And the suggestion that the EC's position means that Microsoft shouldn't be able to bundle programs such as NotePad or Minesweeper with Windows is just laughable.

Everyone that develops a browser gives it away. Well, there might be someone trying to charge, but there are enough good and free browsers to make it a fairly pointless activity.

Why was Internet Explorer free? Because Netscape Navigator was already free.

Well, Netscape wasn't really free, but the rate of development was such that a new version always seemed to appear before the free trial period expired on the old one.

What's the real issue? Read my take, then contribute your opinion on page 4!