ReviewsEuropeans to Choose Win XP, Vista Browsers Too.
Windows XP and Vista to get European browser choice too.
Earlier this week we found out about Microsoft"s proposal to the EU to provide a "ballot screen" for those installing Windows 7 to choose which browser, if any, will be installed on the system. This was presented as a possible solution for the EU"s antitrust investigation into Microsoft"s practices surrounding the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows.
According to information dug up by Ars Technica, Microsoft will soon offer current users of Windows XP and Vista the same type of choice to install browsers other than Internet Explorer 8.
The browser ballot program is proposed as "Important" or "High Priority" update for Windows XP and Vista that will run for users who have IE installed and set as the default browser. From there, users will get the option of installing other browsers from a Microsoft-maintained website.
Besides the obvious players of Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Opera, the ballot screen will reportedly also include other Windows browsers with a usage share of at least 0.5 percent in the European Economic Area (for a total of up to ten different browsers).
This is still in the proposal stage as the European Union has yet to decide whether or not this is satisfactory, but we"ll keep you posted.