Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Microsoft Reaches Deal with EU Over Browser Choice

The European Commission is dropping its antitrust charges against Microsoft, the group said this morning, after Microsoft agreed to allows users in Europe to install the web browser of their choice on Windows machines. According to the EC, Microsoft has committed to offer European users of Windows a choice among different web browsers, and allow computer manufacturers the possibility to turn off Internet Explorer. Microsoft said it would allow PC manufacturers and users to install any browser on top of Windows, and allow Windows users running Internet Explorer as their default browser to easily install other browsers. The deal also includes an interoperability effort covering Microsoft's Windows, Windwos Server, Office, Exchange, and SharePoint products, specifically around standards and documentation. The European Commission investigation was triggered in December of 2007 via a compliant from Opera Software, and later also included Google and Mozilla.