Microsoft rolled out there browser ballot screen only a couple of weeks ago. For those of you who are not aware, the browser ballot screen is a new update to you Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP which will present you with a list of browsers to install if you already have Internet Explorer set as the default browser. This change was brought about thanks to an EU Antitrust investigation and it was not helped at all by Opera.
Well Microsoft did their best to keep the EU and Opera happy by introducing the Ballot screen but have since been criticised for using sloppy code and not adequately randomizing the order in which each browser’s icon and link displays. The browser ballot screen is supposed to change the order of the browsers from left to right each time the page opens. While this did happen, apparently it wasn’t happening often enough for some. The code often put rival browsers at the start of the list and frequently kept Internet Explorer to the far right.
So after several public comments and complaints, Microsoft got onto it and have since fixed the glitch to keep us happy. In a statement released this week, Kevin Kutz, director of public affairs for Microsoft, said:
We can confirm that we made a change to the random icon order algorithm in the browser choice screen for Europe. We are confident the algorithm change will be an improvement. As always, we are grateful for the feedback we get from developers, and we thank those who commented on the topic and suggested changes
And even with these flaws that people are giving out about, it seems that the other browsers are already beginning to reap the benefits of the new browser ballot screen being rolled out.
Mozilla CEO John Lilly told The New York Times over the weekend that more than 50,000 downloads of Firefox have already taken place through direct links from the ballot screen. Opera has also seen a surge in downloads, according to Opera Software’s Chief Strategy Officer Rolf Assev.
“Since the browser choice screen rollout, Opera downloads have more than tripled in major European countries such as Belgium, France, Spain, Poland and the U.K.,”
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