14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has recently decided to remove the browser ballot screen which allowed European users to choose a different browser for their Windows computers, revealing that its agreement with the EU expired, so the menu is no longer mandatory.
Back in 2009, Microsoft went through one of the biggest investigations in its history, as the European Union considered that Redmond violated anti-trust rules by bundling Internet Explorer by default in all installations of the Windows operating system.
The European Union requested Microsoft to implement a browser choice screen on the Old Continent that would enable customers to choose the browser they wanted to use on their computers, but the company failed to comply with the request due to what it called a technical glitch.
At that time, Microsoft received one of the biggest fines in its history – 561 million euros (689 million dollars) – for violating anti-trust rules and not following EU’s instructions.
Ballot screen no longer displayed
Microsoft has decided to remove the browser choice screen from European installations of Windows, as the obligations imposed by the European Union expired, so the company can continue offering Internet Explorer as the default browser for its operating system.
In a post on the Browser Choice Update page, Microsoft informs that new users won’t get the ballot screen and Internet Explorer will become the default browser on their computers.
“Microsoft provided the Browser Choice update in accordance with a decision issued by the European Commission in December 2009. The obligations imposed by that decision have expired and as a result the Browser Choice Update will no longer be delivered to new users,” the announcement reads.
Internet Explorer still number one browser on the desktop
At this point, Internet Explorer continues to be the number one browser on the desktop, with statistics provided by Net Applications pointing to a market share of nearly 58 percent for Redmond’s in-house browser.
Google’s Chrome is the runner-up, while Mozilla Firefox is third, but it’s pretty clear that Internet Explorer continues to dominate the browser world these days.
Microsoft wants to make sure that things will remain this way in future Windows builds, so Internet Explorer 12 is already under development, with people close to the matter revealing that Redmond is planning a major makeover of the app, which would include a redesigned UI and support for extensions, a feature that was already part of rival browsers, such as Chrome and Firefox.
