Microsoft kills Windows 7 E – IE plus ballot screen in Europe instead
Europe was getting Windows 7E, a version of Windows 7 without Internet Explorer included. But no longer. Microsoft has now decided to chance its arm and assume the EU will accept its proposal of a browser ballot screen during Windows 7 installation. So Europe will now be getting exactly the same version of Windows 7 as the rest of the world.
This really is the story that refuses to die.
The EU hasn’t been happy with Microsoft’s anti-competitive actions for some time now, and promised to act if Internet Explorer continued to be foisted on Windows users at the expense of other browsers. The problem (at least as far as the EU is concerned) is that with IE bundled with every copy of Windows most people won’t ever bother to seek out and install an alternative, if they even know alternatives exist.
The European Union called for a ballot screen to be included during the initial installation of Windows 7. Microsoft didn’t exactly jump at this proposal, instead promising to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 7 completely. This would have meant European Windows users buying an operating system with no Web browser included and having to get hold of one via a manufacturer or friend, Internet Explorer or otherwise.
The Europe-wide edition of Windows 7 was therefore going to be different than Windows 7 everywhere else in the world. It was to be labeled Windows 7E (the E standing for Explorer) and because of the total removal of Internet Explorer from the OS would have required Vista users hoping to upgrade to 7 having to do a clean install come October. Not exactly ideal.
But that’s no longer the case.
Microsoft is holding off from manufacturing and shipping Windows 7E to computer manufacturers and partners in Europe because it is betting that the commission will accept the ballot screen proposal. It should, seeing as it proposed it first. Going back on its word and refusing to accept that compromise now would be a truly bizarre decision.
Until Microsoft gets the go-ahead for the ballot screen then this isn’t set in stone but I can’t see Windows 7E ever now seeing the light of day. Which is great news for people like me who were facing a clean install come October. Now, I can happily upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 without losing all the files on my computer, and while also being able to disable Internet Explorer in the process. Which is, quite frankly, brilliant news.
However, something tells me this isn’t the end of this story.
Related Posts:
