s1LX

Microsoft settles with EU—browser balloting arrives in March

// December 16th, 2009 // Tech News

The EU and Microsoft have finally completed negotiations on a settlement that will see Microsoft send out a software update that presents IE users with a browser ballot which enables them to choose another. The settlement isn’t substantially different from steps that Microsoft already announced it was taking back in July , but tweaks the interface of the browser ballot to provide what the EU considers a better user experience. The big surprise is how far down the browser food chain the ballot will go. Users will see five different offerings prominently displayed, and can scroll around to access a dozen different browsers. The EU has posted a series of documents that describe the final settlement. At the OEM level, manufacturers will have the option of completely uninstalling IE and replacing it with a browser of their choice, which will undoubtedly set off a competition among some of the browser makers to woo (or, more accurately, pay) the OEMs. Consumers can also choose their browser when they activate their machines.