I really cannot believe this is such a big deal. If people don't know how to
change their defaults. I hardly think they know about any browser but IE.
Could the argument not be made against any Linux version? I have tried
several and most only include one browser? How about Apple's OS X, last
I saw only Safari came with it. The EU has obviously been biased towards
Microsoft and Windows for the obvious reason that most computers run
Windows. I would much rather the EU spend their time fighting things
like unwanted software that comes with computers. Or the lack of good
customer support. But instead we dwell on which browser is the default?
Does Firefox not automatically change itself to the default browser when
installed?
On August 11, amid the myriad patches and updates that Microsoft will roll out to users as part of this month’s Patch Tuesday bundle, there will be a new version of Internet Explorer (IE) 8 that includes different default-installation settings.
Microsoft officials publicly acknowledged the planned setting changes in mid-July via a posting to the company’s IE Blog. The new and clearer installation settings will affect only those XP, Vista and Windows 7 users who have not set IE as their default browser.
As a number of Microsoft competitors – as well as the U.S. antitrust regulators – have noted, Microsoft didn’t make it clear that using the “Express Settings” default during installation automatically reset the browser default to IE 8. Users had to know enough to “choose custom settings” if they didn’t want IE 8 made automatically their default browser.
Microsoft officials said at the time that this installation-default change would be part of the next cumulative security update for IE in mid-August.
Microsoft officials have chalked up the changes they are making to IE 8 as being attributable to the company’s desire for user choice and control. They haven’t mentioned publicly the direct and indirect roles that government regulators here in the U.S. and in Europe have played in the IE user-settings switch.
Meanwhile, in other IE-related news, Microsoft officials are reiterating that the company is not planning to drop support for the non-standards-compliant IE 6 browser, in spite of some public calls for the company to do so. In an August 10 blog posting, IE General Manager Dean Hachamovitch noted that many corporations use IE 6 as the default browser on their intranets and are running applications that are built around IE 6.
“Dropping support for IE6 is not an option because we committed to supporting the IE included with Windows for the lifespan of the product,” Hachamovitch blogged.
