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Saturday 1 August 2009, 12:59 PM
Microsoft drops "E" version of Windows
Deputy general counsel Dave Heiner revealed the change in plan, saying "we will ship the same version of Windows 7 in Europe in October that we will ship in the rest of the world."
Back in June, Microsoft that it would launch the new OS in Europe without Internet Explorer, in a bid to appease EU antitrust regulators, who were looking at the bundling of the browser in Windows.
But European commissioners were lukewarm on that idea, saying they thought "consumers should be offered a choice of browser, not that Windows should be supplied without a browser at all."
Last week, Microsoft pitched a new idea to the EU, saying it would offer a "ballot screen" in Windows 7 that would let people choose any browser they like. In dropping Windows 7 E, Microsoft is betting that the regulators will go for this plan.
"One reason we decided not to ship Windows 7 E is concerns raised by computer manufacturers and partners. Several worried about the complexity of changing the version of Windows that we ship in Europe if our ballot screen proposal is ultimately accepted by the Commission and we stop selling Windows 7 E," Heiner wrote.
PreviousComments on this post
Will Mac OS (and even Chrome OS/Android) also have to have Ballot Screens?
I agree that this is a good way forward for browser choice in large, corporate operating systems (esp. MS Windows), but will this have an unexpected knock-on effect?
I think that's the way to go. So what's really happening is that we will have a client of some sort on the desktop, that will throw you up to the major browser home pages. Still be interesting to see if 7 comes with IE hidden away in the program files folder, because the idea of not having it there at all would be a real treat.
This comment has been deleted at the users request
This sounds like a better idea all round, and yes they can't bang on about fair play at MS and then not apply the same rule to others.
