Microsoft to allow European users to choose their browser
Microsoft has proposed that it will let its European users to choose their preferred browser. As we all know it’s always been Internet Explorer that’s set as default when you install Microsoft Windows.
Under the proposal, Microsoft will have Internet Explorer as the default browser but will present the user with a “ballot screen” so they can download and install their preferred browser from the web. I think this is a good move by Microsoft and I am hoping they do the same on all other countries. Although most users still use Internet Explorer, there’s a significant fraction of web users that prefer Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera or other browser over Internet Explorer.
“Under our new proposal, among other things, European consumers who buy a new Windows PC with Internet Explorer set as their default browser would be shown a ‘ballot screen’ from which they could, if they wished, easily install competing browsers from the Web,” Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said in a statement.
Mozilla’s CEO has commented on this move by Microsoft:
“We’re interested in seeing the specifics of the proposal that Microsoft is making and until that point it’s hard to have a definitive reaction,” said Chief Executive John Lilly in a statement. “It is, of course, a good development that Microsoft will make changes to allow users to choose their own default Web browser, as today’s browser mediates so much of our online experience.”
Now that’s some sort of freedom.
