Competition Laws: Microsoft 7 without IE in Europe
The European Commission ruling is having an affect: Microsoft will market its new operating system in Europe without Internet Explorer.
In his blog, Microsoft lawyer and Vice President Dave Heiner, says the company was “working to fulfill its legal obligations in Europe for Windows 7” and goes on to explain how a pending legal case has raised concerns about the level of competition among browsers in Europe. He writes that Microsoft “must comply with European competition law” and adds “ we’ve decided that instead of including Internet Explorer in Windows 7 in Europe, we will offer it separately.”
Manufacturers have been informed of Microsoft's plans in an effort to keep the targeted release date of October 22. As a means of identification, the European version of Windows 7 will have an E added to the title. Manufacturers have also been told to install a browser of their choice so users can begin to surf the web immediately after purchase.
In an interview with the legal platform Groklaw, a member of the European Commission described the move as “a step in the right direction, but far from enough.” and the Microsoft attorney already has a guess. Heiner writes further, “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.”
In February 2008 the Commission served Microsoft a record fine of $900 million for breaking European competition rules. The reason was the tight linking of software applications to the operating system, making it difficult for competitors to develop alternatives. In January 2009, after a complaint by the browser company Opera, the European Commission again warned Microsoft its browser was too closely connected to Windows. The complaint was supported by the Free Software Foundation Europe, Google and Mozilla.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.