14 DAY TRIAL // The European Antitrust Commission has responded officially to Microsoft's plans to cut Internet Explorer from the Windows 7 editions that will be sold in Europe, pointing the finger at the company and accusing it of providing less choice for consumers. On June 11th, 2009, the Redmond company indicated that in order to fully comply with EU antimonopoly regulations but to also be able to supply Windows 7 across European markets on October 22, it needed to amputate Internet Explorer 8, and IE entirely from the operating system. Microsoft said that it would provide IE8 on separate media as a standalone product for both OEMs and customers via the original equipment manufacturer and retail channels and would let PC makers and end users choose whether to install the browser or not.
“At the level of both computer manufacturers and retail sales, the Commission's Statement of Objections (SO) suggested that consumers should be provided with a genuine choice of browsers. Given that over 95% of consumers acquire Windows pre-installed on a PC, it is particularly important to ensure consumer choice through the computer manufacturer channel,” the EU Commission stated. “As for retail sales, which amount to less than 5% of total sales, the Commission had suggested to Microsoft that consumers be provided with a choice of web browsers. Instead Microsoft has apparently decided to supply retail consumers with a version of Windows without a web browser at all. Rather than more choice, Microsoft seems to have chosen to provide less.”
While half criticizing Microsoft's decision to cut IE from Windows 7, the European antitrust regulators are also half applauding the move. The Commission's position is that stripping IE8 from Windows 7 makes up for a more positive move from Microsoft, when it comes down to computer manufacturers. The Redmond company explained that it would permit OEMs to install whichever browser they chose by default with copies of Windows 7 shipping pre-installed on new machines in Europe. Come October 22, the Redmond company will offer Windows 7 E editions in Europe, namely the fully-featured SKUs of the platform minus Internet Explorer 8.
“It is noted that computer manufacturers would appear to be able to choose to install Internet Explorer – which Microsoft will supply free of charge - another browser or multiple browsers. Were the Commission to conclude that Microsoft’s behaviour has been abusive, it would have to consider whether this proposal would in itself be sufficient to create genuine consumer choice on the web browser market. The Commission would inter alia take into account the long standing nature of Microsoft's conduct. It would also have to consider whether this initial step of technical separation of IE from Windows could be negated by other actions by Microsoft,” the Commission added.