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European Internet Explorer users will be offered a choice of web browsers starting as early as next week, following a legal ruling.
Microsoft’s announcement follows a ruling by the Competition Commission in December that bundling Internet Explorer with Windows violated competition laws.
According to a blog by Dave Heiner, Microsoft’s vice president and deputy general counsel, IE users in Europe will see a screen offering them a choice of web browsers External testing of the screen will begin next week in the UK, Belgium and France. with a full-scale roll-out starting on 1st March.
“The design and operation of this choice screen was worked out in the course of extensive discussions with the Commission and is reflected in the commitment that Microsoft made. Users who get the choice screen will be free to choose any browser or stick with the browser they have, as they prefer,” Heiner wrote.
The software update choice will arrive automatically for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 customers, according to a blog post by Dave Heiner, Microsoft’s vice president and deputy general counsel.
The browser choice screen will be offered as an automatic update on Windows 7, XP and Vista. The other browsers offered are Firefox, Safari, Opera and Google Chrome.
