In response to the EU’s ruling that Microsoft was indeed violating antitrust by including Internet Explorers with the Windows operating system, Microsoft has announced that it would not include its long-lived browser with the versions of Windows 7 that are sold in Europe. Instead, Microsoft says it will “make it easy for PC makers and users to get at and install the web browsing program.” If Microsoft does not include a web browser, then that means the acquisition of a browser will be left to the OEMs, and less commonly the end user.
For the OEM, this is not going to change much of anything. Most OEMs already pre-install software onto computers (most commonly bloatware that most people do not want), so adding a step when configuring a computer where the buyer indicates which browser or browsers he wants pre-installed will not be much of a hassle. Yet despite this, we should expect to see Internet Explorer pre-installed on the majority of PCs purchased through an OEM. The majority of PCs are bought by corporations, many of which still rely on Internet Explorer for whatever reason. So we should not expect to see this cut into Microsoft’s share of the browser market.
The real problem is for the consumers who want to go out and buy Windows 7 to install on their pre-existing computers, which is going to be that much more of a hassle thanks to the EU. Without an included browser, users will be unable to install a good portion of the software they want (email clients, media software, and the browser they actually want, just to name a few). Either those installing Windows 7 will have to remember to transfer the browser they want via USB drive or something similar, or software stores will have to start carrying retail copies of browsers, in effect making the consumers pay for something free.
At the end of the day, the EU’s anti-Microsoft position is just making way more problems than it is solving. Firefox is already the most popular browser in Europe. We were right when we said the EU would ruin everything.
