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Microsoft pushes ballot screen to EC, waits for the nod
Microsoft has signed off on the Windows 7 code, and they've already begun pushing it out to manufacturers. Now if they could just get that pesky little situation sorted out with the European Commission...
First they offered to perform an Explorerectomy on the new OS, which would have made it a little annoying for the average user to install a browser on their new system. Not so much for geeks like you and me, who probably have at least one browser installer on a flash drive somewhere in the bottom of our sock drawer.
That proposal was met with a hearty Bronx cheer from Opera brass and EC regulators, so it was back to the drawing board for Microsoft. The new take - pretty much the exact ballot screen setup the EC proposed a while back.
A proposal which led Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner to say "My impression is that the Ballot Screen is the EC's preferred solution and that this will work. Microsoft understands that this solution will work and they are desperate to avoid it."
First they offered to perform an Explorerectomy on the new OS, which would have made it a little annoying for the average user to install a browser on their new system. Not so much for geeks like you and me, who probably have at least one browser installer on a flash drive somewhere in the bottom of our sock drawer.
That proposal was met with a hearty Bronx cheer from Opera brass and EC regulators, so it was back to the drawing board for Microsoft. The new take - pretty much the exact ballot screen setup the EC proposed a while back.
A proposal which led Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner to say "My impression is that the Ballot Screen is the EC's preferred solution and that this will work. Microsoft understands that this solution will work and they are desperate to avoid it."
Apparently not that desperate. In the grand scheme of things, shipping what is possibly the most hyped and most anticipated piece of Microsoft software ever released on time is a much higher priority than "playing a game with the EC," as Tetzchner put it.
MS PressPass has the full details of the new proposal in .DOC format. There's also a .PPT illustrating how the ballot screen will work. Rather, there's a .PPT containing the one image you see above. While I don't understand the point of presenting a single slide instead of a JPG or PNG, it's pretty obvious how things would work.
On first run, Internet Explorer will redirect users to the ballot screen website. Microsoft has included the top 5 browsers and sorted them based (nearly) on their ranking in browser share. There's even room for my "you have to list every possible browser, not just the big ones" scenario - additional options available with a little horizontal scrolling.
Will the EC welcome the proposed screen? Who knows. What I do know is that Microsoft wishes they were in the position to demand a speedy verdict so they can get on with getting Windows 7 deployed. But they're not, so they'll have to sit on their hands and wait on the EC now.
All that's been said so far: ""The Commission welcomes this proposal and will now investigate its practical effectiveness in terms of ensuring genuine consumer choice."
Comments
25
Subscribe to commentsJordanJul 26th 2009 6:22PM
This is still stupid. Wasn't the whole point of the EU that they didn't want Microsoft forcing their browser on people. According to this picture it still uses IE, meaning the OS is shipped with IE installed and only IE. A user still has to download a different browser. How is this any different.
F the EU.
AshishJul 27th 2009 7:25AM
To Ziyad Saeed:
If u read the MS release, it has a 6 month cyclic process of determining market share and including browsers with more than 0.5% market share.
The page can say market share as of x date.
Also, I think we need more mess here, so that the thicks as EU understand that it IS a mess.
ConsumerJoeJul 28th 2009 11:29PM
They will once again refuse to comment on it so that they leave the option open to sue. They did it before they will do it again. MS tried hard, way too hard in my opinion to work with them and their reply was always "we're not going to say if the solution you're suggesting will prevent us from suing you". This isn't about choice. This isn't about a monopoly. It's about a regular source of income for EU countries.
JamesJul 29th 2009 2:31AM
The EC is just a bunch of authoritarian communists anyways. What is it with the Europeans and their love of big government? First it was their Monarchy, then Communism, Dictatorialism, Socialism. Each one leaving their "subjects" more dependent on Big Daddy to regulate "fairness", while leaving everyone in the poor house. I guess that's what you get though.... Tough luck Microsoft, I guess it's just "bend over for more". I sure hope America doesn't turn into that sorry-ass state.
Patrick72Oct 7th 2009 11:03AM
If you compare this Microsoft-vs.-EC-battle about their browser with Apple who don't allow you to use anything else than iTunes when you want to fill your iPhone/iPod, I only want to say to the EC: leave Microsoft alone and go get Apple!
I'm not a Microsoft fan, but in stead of Apple, Microsoft never forbid you to use another browser than their own Internet Explorer while Apple pushes their own iTunes (and don't forget their QuickTime Player!) all the time when you connect your iPhone/iPod to your PC or Mac.
So I agree with Josh, Microsoft have every right to put whatever they want into their OS. But if they are blocking software from other companies to "promote" their own software, that's out of the question!
And if the user wants to use other software than Microsoft stuff (even when using Microsoft OS) he/she has all the democratic right to do so - it's not Microsoft's "democratic" right to forbid that!!!