Tag: EU

The European Union has unveiled the European Grid Infrastructure project, which will allow researchers to tap into the collective power of more than 200,000 desktop computers across 30 EU nations. That's a whole lotta computing power. As is the case with similar distributed computing projects like SETI@home, the thought behind EGI is that those 200,000 computer systems are sitting idle more ...

The European Commission responded earlier today to the petition submitted by the 'Gang of Six' web browsers seeking "any of a myriad of small changes" to alert users of the 7 browser choices not initially displayed on Microsoft's new European Browser Choice update dialog. In an email to CNet writer Stephen Shankland, EC spokeswoman Amelia Torres writes: "The elements of the Choice Screen were ...

Six of the twelve browsers chosen to be a part of the EU "Browser Choice Screen" petitioned the European Commission on Thursday, asking politely -- very politely -- that the Commissioners "consider any of the following suggestions which could be easily and quickly implemented and would allow users to exercise choice." "Ok, seriously? Already? WTF!", was my immediate reaction. Browserchoice.eu ...

It appears as though the Browser Ballot screen Microsoft recently pushed to EU residents via Windows update is having the desired effect -- at least if you're not Microsoft. Opera, who recently shined up version 10.50 of their browser, has seen downloads triple since the screen went live. In a post on ComputerWorld, Opera's Rolf Assev said that downloads have exceeded their expectations for a ...

While the count was at three release candidates in two days when I started checking my RSS feeds this morning, it's now up to four. Yes, Opera has dropped the beta tag and is feverishly working toward a final version of Opera 10.50 for Windows. Their site is literally buzzing with activity, from the message boards to the desktop team's blog. Why the rush? What could possibly be so important ...

Starting next month, users in the EU will begin receiving a Windows update which finally implements the browser ballot screen which was approved in December 2009. The update adds a new shortcut to the desktop labeled "Browser Choice" and on Windows 7 it will also replace Internet Explorer on the taskbar if a user happens to have it pinned there. Launching the shortcut opens a window which ...

EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes had some big news this morning. At long last, a deal has been worked out that will see Microsoft implement a browser ballot screen which allows users to choose something other than Internet Explorer. So, what are the major changes which finally allowed the two sides to see eye-to-eye? The screen will be presented in a "neutralized window" rather than ...

Back in July, Microsoft thought they had a pretty solid compromise to put before EU regulators with their web browser ballot screen. Concerns were raised throughout the process -- first by Opera and later by Mozilla's brass -- but it looks as though the EU is giving Microsoft the go-ahead. According to Nelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition Policy, the ballot screen will include the ...

Microsoft's struggle with the European Commission's demands regarding browser choice just never seems to end. Today's soap opera episode introduces another main character into the cast: Mozilla. Earlier this week, Harvey Anderson and Mitchell Baker, two highers-up of Mozilla and the Mozilla Foundation, blogged about concerns and issues they had about the fairness of Microsoft's proposed ballot ...

Like sand through the hourglass, the browser ballot soap opera continues with a a whole new set of interesting developments. Yesterday, ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley poked around the small print of the Microsoft proposal and noticed existing Windows XP and Vista users are slated to receive the ballot screen via Windows update. From the release: "Microsoft will distribute a Ballot Screen software update ...

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 ...

Hey, Microsoft! The EC heard you wanted to make a concession yesterday and were considering stripping IE8 from Windows 7 in Europe. Well, they've got two words for you: Nice try. The Commission's press release this morning states "As for retail sales...the Commission had suggested to Microsoft that consumers be provided with a choice of web browsers. Instead Microsoft has apparently decided to ...

Holy about faces, Batman! Credit yet another Microsoft-related leak with some truly interesting Windows 7 news. The EU is going to get their wish, and Microsoft will make special OEM and retail versions of Windows 7 available that are totally Internet Explorer free. Here's the meaty part of the memo: "Microsoft will offer IE8 separately and free of charge and will make it easy and convenient for ...

There are plenty of things I'd love to quit reading about, and the EU's continued moaning about unfair browser bundling is pretty high on the list. We get it. You (and a number of competitors) think Microsoft needs to do something more substantial than allow users to uninstall/disable/burn down Internet Explorer. Your latest fabulous idea? A download dashboard, which will present a number of ...

Are you kidding me? Did a whole group of major companies just jump in to the Microsoft-EU brawl? Yep. Adobe, Oracle, Sun, Corel, and RealNetworks - who are members of the European Committee for Interoperable Systems - have joined up with Mozilla, Opera, Google, and the Free Software Foundation Europe in the fight to prove that consumers are too stupid to make their own choices. Thomas Vinje, ...