Microsoft said it had decided to offer unique versions of Windows 7 that do not include the software giant's browser to PC manufacturers and users in Europe. But the European Commission said it has a more appropriate remedy in mind should Microsoft be found guilty of abusing its dominant market position to promote its own browser technology.

"The commission has suggested that consumers should be offered a choice of browser, not that Windows should be supplied without a browser at all," the EC said. "Given that over 95 percent of consumers acquire Windows preinstalled on a PC, it is particularly important to ensure consumer choice through the computer manufacturer channel."

Too Little, Too Late

Microsoft believes its new approach is its best path forward in light of the software giant's ongoing legal dispute with Europe's antitrust authorities.

"We need to make the move in order to deliver Windows 7 in Europe at the same time that the new operating systems begins shipping in the rest of the world," said Microsoft Vice President Dave Heiner. "It will address the 'bundling' claim while providing European consumers with access to the full range of Windows 7 benefits that will be available in the rest of the world."

Heiner also noted that Microsoft's decision means computer OEMs will be able to add any browser they want to the machines shipped into Europe -- including Internet Explorer.

"European consumers who purchase new PCs will be able to access the Internet without any problem," Heiner said. "Consumers will also be able to add any Web browser to their PCs, to supplement or replace the browsers preinstalled."

However, Microsoft's browser rivals are adamantly opposed to the move. "As a practical measure, we see this as a case of too little, too late," said Opera Software Chief Technology Officer Hakon Wium Lie. "But as an admission of guilt it might work."

Educating Consumers

Opera's CTO observed that there would be nothing to stop the software giant from leveraging its dominant market position to encourage PC OEMs to put Internet Explorer "straight back into the machines they ship into Europe," Lie said. "Furthermore, creating special versions of Windows 7 for Europe is not enough."

The whole world needs better browsers, Lie said. "We like the [EC's] ballot-screen approach, which will give users a genuine choice."

The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), which counts IBM, Nokia and Oracle among its members, thinks Microsoft's move would have been "appropriate in 1997, but further action is needed today to undo the effects of a decade of abuse." Spokesperson Thomas Vijne added, "Microsoft must also put an end to its practice of overriding user default preferences for other browsers, calling up IE code even when users have chosen to uninstall IE or using its Windows update function to distribute IE to the detriment of alternative browsers."

Other browser rivals note that Microsoft's decision does nothing to educate consumers about the available alternatives to Internet Explorer. "Building a setting in which consumers and citizens understand they have a choice, realize they can demand better by changing browsers, and aren't penalized for doing so is a fundamental step in building an Internet that retains vibrancy, innovation and choice," said Mozilla Foundation Chairman Mitchell Baker.