A dispute between the European Union and Microsoft was going on for a while. The European Union suggested that Microsoft should consider adding third-party web browsers to their next operating system Windows 7 in an effort to strengthen web browser competition. This felt strange to many users from the European Union as the Firefox web browser was already competing against Internet Explorer on an eye-to-eye level even without being distributed with the operating system.
News broke today that Microsoft has decided – for now – to offer Windows 7 in the European Union without Internet Explorer; Actually without web browser at all which could prove to be very difficulty for users as they have no means to acquire a web browser online. No web browser brings back memories of a time when web browsers were supplied on CDs and even floppy disks as operating systems back then were supplied without them.
“To ensure that Microsoft is in compliance with European law, Microsoft will be releasing a separate version of Windows 7 for distribution in Europe that will not include Windows Internet Explorer,” the software maker said in the memo. “Microsoft will offer IE8 separately and free of charge and will make it easy and convenient for PC manufacturers to preinstall IE 8 on Windows 7 machines in Europe if they so choose. PC manufacturers may choose to install an alternative browser instead of IE 8, and has always been the case, they may install multiple browsers if they wish.”
via Cnet
