Microsoft to sell Windows 7 in Europe without browser and Media Center
Microsoft does not intend to ship Internet Explorer with Windows 7 in Europe. Microsoft explained in a blog post that this move was made to comply with European competition law. The European Commission views Internet Explorer’s bundling with Windows as a violation of competition law in Europe.
A confidential memo received from Microsoft by CNet confirmed Microsoft’s move to remove the browser. It also indicated that PC manufacturers will have the option to add Internet Explorer 8 back in, or to ship Windows 7 with any combination of web browsers to their liking. This is an excerpt from the official memo:
To ensure that Microsoft is in compliance with European law, Microsoft will be releasing a separate version of Windows 7 for distribution in Europe that will not include Windows Internet Explorer. Microsoft will offer IE8 separately and free of charge and will make it easy and convenient for PC manufacturers to preinstall IE 8 on Windows 7 machines in Europe if they so choose. PC manufacturers may choose to install an alternative browser instead of IE 8, and has always been the case, they may install multiple browsers if they wish.
Microsoft also hinted to the future possibility of a ballot screen that will allow users to choose from a specific set of web browsers.
Our decision to only offer IE separately from Windows 7 in Europe cannot, of course, preclude the possibility of alternative approaches emerging through Commission processes. Other alternatives have been raised in the Commission proceedings, including possible inclusion in Windows 7 of alternative browsers or a “ballot screen” that would prompt users to choose from a specific set of Web browsers. Important details of these approaches would need to be worked out in coordination with the Commission, since they would have a significant impact on computer manufacturers and Web browser vendors, whose interests may differ.
Windows 7 editions in Europe will have an E at the end, for example, Windows 7 Home Premium E. Windows 7 in Europe will have the same functionality and features as any other corresponding edition around the globe, with the exception of the web browser.
Windows 7 editions that have Windows Media Center removed will have an N at the end of its name. Again, this is to comply with European competitive law. This move only affects member countries of the European Economic Area including Switzerland and Croatia.
What are your thoughts on the antitrust issue between the European Commission and Microsoft? Do you think Microsoft is being anti-competitive with its bundling? Let us know in the comments.
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Tags: windows 7, windows 7 eu antitrust
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42 Responses to “Microsoft to sell Windows 7 in Europe without browser and Media Center”
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I would like to mention that I think it’s very unfair Microsoft has to deal with this, although that is not to say they don’t deserve it all due to previous monopolistic practices.
But putting that aside, Windows 7 is a Microsoft product and they should have the right to do what they want with it in my opinion. Will Apple soon be forced to put a mobile version of IE or Opera onto the iPhone?
@Al..
I wholeheardtly agree with you, it is not Microsoft’s problem if Opera, Chrome, or any other browser wants a spot at the table….
They need to earn it like anyone else.
I don’t know about you but i am sick of the EU and all its crap lawsuits!
Well … actually, the US is the ultimate one and only country with braindead lawsuits on this globe.
It’s Microsofts fault that it got that far, now they pay the bill. They wanted to kill the market with illegal practices, now they first have to earn trust again. Don’t blame EU, blame Microsoft.
i dont think ubunto will stop default installing Firefox …
I also agree. Windows is a MS product and Microsoft is a private company. I cannot possibly see how this can be the EU’s business.
And if it is, then could we please see Apple not including Safari with OS X and have them permit different browsers on the iPhone, where they currently actively prohibit browser competition. How is that fair? But since Apple isn’t Microsoft they are allowed to do anything, like abusing their iTunes monopoly to lock people in with iPods…
Anybody stupid enough to use or buy Apple products deserves what’s coming to them.
I agree, Apple seem to get away with murder, they use some of the most aggressive sales and lock-in techniques I’ve ever heard of from a ‘reputable’ company. Their products can be alright, it’s Apple I despise.
I think it’s Microsoft’s business what they bundle with their OS. Are they gonna make them take out Notepad, Calculator and Disk Defrag? and why, because there are competitor products?
Sorry you can’t bundle Chess Titans with this OS, there are other products which perform a similar task.
/rant
And how do they plan to have the user install their browser?
It’s stupid, I think they should fire Nellie.
Who’s Nellie?
MS will remove IE from Windows 7 altogether but PC makers will have the option of installing IE8 back on it or another browser of their choice. Which is great I suppose because I’d love to be able to get all my customers to run Safari or Firefox… if I owned a computer store =P
OEM’s have always had the option of preinstalling any browser and making it default.
MS should know that trying to outsmart authorities isn’t a very clever move – that’s what brought them (and Intel) to their current situation, for one.
Other than that, this can’t be but a good news and, at least, it will lead ordinary people to actually aknowledge competition and look beyond MS bubble, as well as to make choices.
As for the EU Comission, this should act as an wake-up call – it’s about time they call an experts panel on guidelines for computer OS architecture: what it should(n’t)/must(n’t) be/include, how it should(n’t)/must(n’t) behave, etc., with the eye on user/data privacy and security, and general computer usability and interoperability.
Just my 0,02 €.
I’m sure they’re learning big time right now. You can see a lot of changes occuring now that Bill Gates is out of the big picture. I recall MS in an interview on Cnet or somewhere saying that the company culture has changed as a whole with Bill Gates gone and you can see this with the way Windows 7 is being developed, Bing, and the cancellation of many of Microsoft’s useless projects and failures.
I agree with you they deserve it but the logic side of this browser issue seems all the bit strange to me.
I guess change has yet to arrive to the department responsible for that decision/threat, then; which is why I say they are trying to outsmart the EU: they’re gambling in the hope the EU will back off and it may just backfire on them, instead.
there is nothing to outsmart …
MS did nothing wrong, they did the same thing every other company do on daily basis (or u would do).
the problem is with them being over successful, the moment you get big enough you are not allowed to play be normal rules
It’s a clear challenge to the EC, in my view; Vista N was a “ghost” option, which completely ridiculed the EC; this time, they’re going hardball, with no option, apparently; so I guess they’re betting on an outcry to embarrass and humiliate the EC in a similar way to their notorious embrace, extend and extinguish strategy (which, actually, is a viral behaviour…).
“A decade after the original Netscape-related antitrust suit, the web browser company Opera Software has filed an antitrust complaint against Microsoft with the European Union saying it “calls on Microsoft to adhere to its own public pronouncements to support these standards, instead of stifling them with its notorious ‘Embrace, Extend and Extinguish’ strategy”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish)
Just to add that I also believe EU needs to act on the hardware (drivers) front, as well – that’s where a big part of the present monopoly problem lies – mandatory publishing of drivers for competing OSes, or disclosure of necessary data for building them, before public release of hardware would, at last, bring the market to even playing field.
It’s MSFT’s product, so they should be able to put whatever they want along with it.
Its a bit strange leaving media centre, off. Thats a nice peice of software. can be by editions with media center installed, as well as editions without it?
Last time I checked, OSX was still using Safari as the one and only pre-installed browser. What’s with that?
To all those who are asking why this issue doesn’t apply to Apple:
Apple is an OEM. Therefore, it can choose to ship its computers with Safari. And it does.
Microsoft doesn’t sell computers? HP, Dell, etc. does. If they’re not satisfied with IE, there’s nothing Microsoft can do about it.
Well, how would I even browse to download an internet browser if I don’t have a browser preinstalled on my OS. or do I need to have another computer to do so!!!
PC vendors would most likely do it for you, since that is what they’re aiming for here rather than Microsoft predetermining what to install
Fail. I can perhaps understand the WMP exclusion, but the browser? How are you supposed to download the other browsers without a browser? Through command prompt?
Or is MS obliged to supply us with all browser on the Win 7 CD? The Commission failed hard on this one. What’s next, remove the taskbar so some companies can add their own?
Most PCs should come with a browser unless the vendor or seller was too lazy to install their own on it.
The EU is a great fucking terror regime that will control all. Microsoft should not accept this and ignore the EU market if it can or shipped in two versions: with IE about 100 $, without IE 150$
EU?
They are not the problem.
Microsoft’s stupidity is!
There is NOTHING in the EU reports which prevent IE being included. The objection has always been to the failure to include other [better] browsers.
I think we should pick up on this by INSISTING that operating systems are supplied as functional tools [ie without the crap usually bundled with them]
That doesn’t prevent the company from offering or supplying the crap- but its installation MUST be optional
@ Iain,
Forcing any company to include their competitors product into their product, is stupidity with a capital S.
Show me one example of any company in any branch that was forced to offer their clients competitive products to go with their’s!
I hear people say, “but MS doesn’t make hardware”.
No they don’t, so what?!
Is there an argument hidden in there somewhere?
It’s just monkeys repeating each other, “but MS doesn’t make hardware”, “but MS doesn’t make hardware”, “but MS doesn’t make hardware”.
If you say it long enough you start to believe it is indeed a valid argument.
I would say exactly the opposite because I have a brain of my own.
If MS is wrong for not giving users a choice of the competition’s (also crappy) browsers, then what should we think of Apple that makes hardware that will only run their own OS, even forbids to install any other OS.
Then you say, “but MS doesn’t make hardware”.
Ok, lets assume for a moment it is a valid argument.
But then I ask, what about their OS?
It has all kinds of proprietary tools and software on it, it doesn’t run (almost) any MS program, and they certainly don’t offer competitive software during install.
Do you know how many MS programs run on an Apple?
Do you think MS doesn’t want to?
Or is Apple obstructing it deliberately, thus making it (almost) impossible for users to decide what OS or software to run on their computer?
But it is a niche product! Another great (not) argument.
Oh, yeah, right, forgot all about that.
We do have to give those poor little niche companies a little help.
Do you know Apple made more than a $10 billion revenue in 2009′s first quarter?
Microsoft’s revenue in the same period was $15 billion.
Still think the “Niche” argument holds any water?
You, like some others, are missing the point entirely.
There is nothing in any Microsoft OS preventing competitors software to run on it.
If users don’t like IE, they can simply find their way to another browser and install it.
And users have found it, because FF has 35% of the browser market in europe.
(IE has 34%)
source: “http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/03/firefox-3-marketshare-exceeds-internet-explorer-7-in-europe.ars”
Hmmm, FF is getting quite big, maybe we should force them to include a tickbox to give users the opportunity to install Opera or IE instead?
What it all boils down to is, either we do have a free market or we don’t!
You cannot impose exceptions just for one company, with the only argument being, it is too big.
Because that is (to stay with your terms) a load of crap.
On the free market the rule is the survival of the fittest, the smartest, or even shrewdest if you will.
It always has been, it’s called capitalism.
If you don’t like it, go live in a communist country.
Greetz
Awful, I thing the EC should talk to Apple. They’ve bundled Safari since 10.3 and Firefox and Opera are available for mac os x. This is a real problem-schools, home users with out a browser. Servers will crash.
OK, Microsoft should do this but do what they did with N- sell the full version in shops and OEM. I bet people will hack the beta, RC and their downloaded leaked builds. Windows 7 was good until this. there Microsoft’s last chance and they have blown it , typical Microsoft.
WTF is everybody talking about EU and Terror regime. When company’s outgrow the market there are ALWAYS complaints from some other companys. The fact that Nellie Kroes is fighting this thing is because of OTHER companys not being happy that heir browser is not being downloaded becase some preinstalled software. The fact that this kind of commissions exists are to protect the little companys who are whining all the time that there browser is not being download.
Everyone better get saving- Apple your going to be busy.
I cannot wait until you buy a 6 pack of Heineken and 1 of the bottles is a Budweiser !
This might sound stupid, but If Microsoft has to ship windows 7 without a browser to Europe, how the hell will customers access the internet TO download a browser of thier choice. And If it gives them a choice at the time of install, would that still violate Europes law? Just a thought.
Hi there,
I live in the EU, but I always voted against it for a number of reasons.
I totally dissagree with the European vision of so called collaboration (which was a very ugly word during the last great war, and by the way they are implementing it, it still is!)
The EU is the new Soviet Union, where the biggest countries can outvote the smaller ones every time, and can decide how many strawberries have to go into a jar of Jam, to be eligable to wear the name Jam.
Regardles of local culture or taste.
It has nothing to do with collaboration. It’s all about totalitarian control over evrything and every one.
This thing with Microsoft not being allowed to put their own software into their own OS is a great example of this.
On one hand they preace a free market, on the other hand they practice protectionism, and so called fair chances for everyone.
What did they do to protect the small grocery shops, when the supermarkets came?
If small companies can’t sell their product, they are simply not good enough.
What benifits do we consumers get from privatisation?
The only thing that happened is that we pay more and more, to fill the backpockets of the CEO’s, the bankers and the commisioners.
And now we are all bankrupt.
I wonder if car manufacturers like BMW are going to be penalized for installing their own BMW radio and BMW navigation system, and BMW shockabsorbers into their own product.
Will we see lawsuits from autoradio or shockabsorber manufacturers, stating this is unfair?
Will TomTom be filing a suite, demanding all cars should be sold without navigation?
Will Weather dotcom demand that TomTom takes out it’s own weather feature?
Will Navigon demand that TomTom has to sell it’s gadgets without it’s own navigation software?
Where will this end?
Well, it has to end here.
Microsoft does nothing to prevent people from installing any other webbrowser like Firefox, Opera or Chrome.
In fact I do have multiple browsers on my PC.
It would be a different matter if MS would charge the customer seperately for the browser, or if other browsers were banned from the OS.
But to prehibit MS to include their own software is rediculous by any standard.
What’s next on the list? MS paint? Explorer? Notepad? The Windows Shell? Because their are other companies like Stardock that make alternative Shells for Windows..
Why not make MS sell their OS like a modern version of DOS, without any graphical shell, just to make sure other companies get an even break.
Yeah, that makes sence.
EU, get a life and start doing something meaningfull to repair our economies, and let the people remain to have the right to chose what they want nad companies to chose what they sell.
It’s called free marketing.
Greetz,
SquonkSC
I absolutely agree with you. I unfortunately live in the EU as well, but I sure wish I didn’t.
Wow I am not familiar with the European political system nor do I want to discuss too much about politics, but I think you got it right there.
This can serve as a dangerous precedent in the future for other software companies. EU is probably getting some considerable amount of benefit or money out of this decision.
The more I read the comments here, the more illogical I think of this situation
I hate windows , all in it make me sick , that will be longer for live in life Windows users , it will down this company soon
[...] Microsoft to sell Windows 7 in Europe without browser and Media Center Microsoft does not intend to ship Internet Explorer with Windows 7 in Europe. Microsoft explained… [...]
this is by far the dumbest thing i have ever seen in my life. if IE doesn’t ship with windows then how the F**K are people going to get a web browser, if they don’t have a different source of getting one????
seriously, what about apple’s and safari??
i mean i god damn hate IE (i use FFox, safari and opera) but this is just ludicrous.
the company should be/is allowed to ship their own bloody software.
the EU just sucks. idiots. a better idea would be to have a pamphlet introducing other web browsers, and just still have IE installed >_>.
So when will the European’s force Apple to stop shipping their browser, or maybe Sun Microsystems from shipping theirs?
Its about time the European’s faced one of the many more important challenges they face!!!
Stupid is as stupid does I guess…
- Doug
Apple, Sun are a niche companies – they’d wish they’d fall under anti-monopoly regulations…
Apple makes its own hardware. Therefore because it’s a hardware manufacturer also, it can choose to ship its computers with Safari. And it does.
Do you see Microsoft producing computers? No.
It’s mainly Opera who’s been complaining but now Mozilla and Google have joined with the complaints
So, what you are saying is, when a company produces hardware, it’s ok to force people to use it’s proprietary OS and software and prohibit people from choosing other options?
But an OS manufacturer cannot incorporate it’s own browser in it’s own OS? Even when it gives users the opportunity to install other alternatives?
I know your statement is correct, but does this seems logical to you? Not to mention fair?
Do you let the company who build your house decide what furniture you can put in it?
Would you agree if the your car’s manual stated that putting in another sound system, or even another engine in the car, is illegal???
I can burn my Apple, rip it apart, drag it behind my car etcetera,
but I cannot install another OS, or MS software, because it’s illegal!!
Come on! That’s called monopoly, and a whole lot worse then Microsoft ever did.
What ever Microsoft did in the past.
They were tried and convicted, and they paid millions for it.
But their past has nothing to do with this issue.
Microsoft should be allowed to put in their OS what ever they want.
People can always choose not to buy it, and put another OS on their PC.
Unlike Apple!
That’s why I would and will never buy an Apple.
Greetz,
P.S. (the EU want’s MS to reveal their source code, so others can use it. Make Widows open source? While OSX is closed Linux, it’s a crazy world!)