Microsoft gets second extension in IE EU antitrust brouhaha EU antitrust regulators have granted Microsoft yet another extension to respond to charges that the software giant abused its dominant market position by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows. A European Commission spokeswoman confirmed to The Register this morning that Microsoft has been given a one-week extension. The …
"Microsoft may be ordered by the EC to offer multiple browsers on new Windows-based PCs."
Microsoft should tell the EC to stick this idea where the sun doesn't shine, as it will onyl cause more complaints when they don't lincude browser X in the list (probably by opera people).
They should IMO remove all browsers, i don't think its a good idea but would show the EU what happens when they remove the browser, lots more hassle for the consumor as now they have to get discs and install it themselves, drives teh cost of the pc UP as more techincal support is needed, more time for installs etc etc.
What pisses me off is that I can't remove it. Even if you think you have removed it, double-click on an XML file and there it is. And, for the hard-of-thinking-MS-fanbois; it *IS* IE. It is not just some wank MS XML module.
It looks like IE, has the IE process, IE icon, IE security, IE menus and IE bollocks. It *IS* IE!
When I remove a program, I want it gone. There is no excuse for IE remaining after I have asked for it to be deleted. I have plenty of other applications that can read XML (or whatever) and if there are common modules that are needed for things (e.g. BITS) then they can remain (just tell me what they are and why they cannot be removed). But they SHOULD NOT fire up and pretend to be IE!
I hope the EU find the hell out of MS. it's time someone made the bastards pay attention.
I think some clarification is needed from the EC as to _what_ they actually mean by "removing IE".
IIRC IE is basically a wrapper for mshtml.dll, the same dll that runs the parts of the desktop, Windows Explorer and many third party applications (Steam for instance). Getting rid of that is not really an option but without getting rid of that you're not _really_ getting rid of IE.
There's not a whole lot MS can do at this point in time. However, I think the only bit that _really_ needs looking at is MSs OEM licensing conditions since all that's really needed is for OEMs to configure Windows without the IE wrapper (which can be done) and a different browser installed as default... not a total breaking of the UI layer of the OS and several third party apps.
What happens if you get rid of Safari or Konqueror on MacOS or *nix? Does that remove core parts of WebKit as well or just that particular wrapper?
EU antitrust regulators have granted Microsoft yet another extension to respond to charges that the software giant abused its dominant market position by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows.
In other news they also abused their position by including a calculator, and notepad makes open office suffer, whilst wordpad sticks its heels in to open office.
A we browser is a basic part of the operating system, it is like banning cars from being sold with tyres because it is unfair to other tyre manufacturers!
MUPPETS!
IE..
This focus on IE and WMP by the EU just makes them look silly. There are (from what I've read here) many, far worse anti-competitive practices going on, but it always comes down to IE and WMP.
If the EU want to make a point, and level the marketplace properly then they should just ban the selling of anything except barebones systems, and ban the bundling of any commercial software, and ban unfair licensing agreements etc.
That way people have to make an active choice at the time of purchase. The cost of the products becomes more obvious.
More difficult? Maybe
Will result in better informed customers? Probably
Will result in fairer pricing? Should Do
Will result in better informed in-store support staff? You can only teach a monkey so much..
Fairer competition? Definitely.
Then people who want Windows will have to actively go out of their way to buy it. The main problem is that right now it's the default, and many, people will just stick with the default if they don't have to think about it.
Removing IE and Media Player achieves nothing except for making it clear that the EU just don't get 'it'. All that will happen is that people will click through defaults, and end up downloading them as part of some other update package anyway.
The bundling and hidden costs are a far bigger problem.
AC 11:52. You are sort of right, but not. There is no need to remove the OS (actually, the window managers) HTML rendering engine. However, the shite that you refer to as a "wrapper" (it's actually a GUI to a poorly written codebase that hasn't appead to have changed much since it's mosaic days which uses Trident as a rendering engine.) can be removed. Just the other day whilst showing someone the add/remove program feature in Ubuntu, they mentioned what an easy way of installing a program it was and how Windows would benifit from such a feature...
If anything the EU should levee a fine againt MSFT for non compliance of standard, and therefore unlawfully describing the product as "Internet" Explorer...
Simon B. It would appear that your foaming-at-the-mouth rant show what a moron you are.
If you have a copy of IE, your opinion does not count.
You were forced to buy it and use it. And Microsoft controls your opinion.
It is like asking someone who is raped to approve the sex after the fact. Only in this case Microsoft paid munnions actually claim they liked it. No consumer would ever agree to such things. Yet, you see them.
Remove IE completely.
Microsoft can compete just as well as everyone else. If not being bundled with the OS is good enough for Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safarie, then it is good enough for Microsoft. Of course Microsoft is having a real hard time trying to figure out what they are going to say in their effort to continue forcing inferior software on consumers. It is just like forced sex. Microsoft thinks they can continue because the sex was good. Or, the rape should continue because consumers need it, right?
You wait. Just wait until Microsoft explains why they think they must be permitted to continue to control and manipulate their dumb customers. You know, the ones that claim they liked the forced sex.
Thumbs up to your thumbs down.
While we're at it, the same problem applies to free cell phones and mortgages, and sloppy credit is the main cause of the Financial Crisis and moral decay.
However, just sorting Microsoft out is proving to be a knickertwister, is it okay for the EU leave the rest till later in the century?
You fail to understand.
IE CANNOT be removed, the core engine under it is part of the operating system. Go on. Go through your windows install and tell it NOT to use IE for anything. Its still there and will still leap up and bite you on the ass when you least expect it. As someone else has said why does IE pop up when you try to view an XML document? Because its still there.
Your car analogy is wrong its more like if buy a Ford and replace its shit tyres with better ones each time it goes in for a service, or even at random intervals when I least expect it, the crappy ford tyres re-appear.
For the EU to go after one particular application is a waste of time and resources. A single supplier controlling 90% or more of a single market would lead to drastic regulatory measures in just about any other industry. ICT shouldn't be any different. It is time to fight back against the secretive OEM-regimes which have hampered competition in this sector for decades. Ban hardware/software bundling. Make it mandatory to specify prices for software and hardware separately, and require resellers to sell either separately. Thus, a reseller who insist that the price of software in a bundle is only £5 must be able to deliver 1000 licences for £5000 if asked.
The case against bundling (by a monopoly) and lack of interoperability (by a monopoly) is needed.
(or extending a monopoly into an other monopoly)
Where the US DoJ failed misserably, The EU has not failed or given up.
Just look for "Case COMP/C-3/37.792 Microsoft" and read it, it's quit easy to understand.
And it's all about the future conduct of a monopoly like Microsoft.
You have to use the past to build a "stick" to use in the future.
Well done EU, and do not give in like Sun and others.
I suppose it's because the filetype association still exists. It could just as well fire up Notepad.
Windows will always be stuck with MSHTML/MSXML, there are two many around programs which need them. But then again MacOS has Webkit even though you can drag Safari to the trash and Linux has KHTML.
If the installer gets rid of the IE directory in Program Files, the icons from the desktop and Start Menu, deletes the filetype associations, and stops Windows Explorer turning into IE when you put a web address in the location bar then that's good enough for most people. Microsoft can tell the EU they've put a DLL there and it's up to developers if they want to use it. The fanatics can overwrite MSHTML with a wrapper round Gecko but that's not Microsoft's job.
Lets be honest, this is just another excuse for the EU to grab more money from private enterprise in the way of a fine. The average user dosn't give a shit what browser they use. I currently have chrome, firefox and ie in use on my pc, to be honest i don't really see much difference in terms of performance between any of them.
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