14 DAY TRIAL // Back in February 2010, the European Union ruled that Microsoft has to display a ballot screen on Windows PCs with Internet Explorer set as the default browser, to provide users with the possibility to choose another application through which to navigate the Internet.
The ruling was meant to prevent Internet Explorer from becoming the dominating web browser on the European market.
While older flavors of Windows have been displaying the ballot screen since two years ago, Windows 8 was made available for download and evaluation without the feature enabled.
However, it appears that a newly release update for the platform has changed that, and that the ballot screen, or the Browser Choice screen, as Microsoft calls it, will start to emerge on Windows 8 PCs used inside the European Union.
In fact, Microsoft has already updated its support website for the new version, KB976002, to reflect the aforementioned changes.
Windows 8 users will receive the update automatically, provided that they have selected the automatic update for their systems, and will then be offered the option to choose from a range of various web browsers to install, others than Internet Explorer.
“On a PC running Windows 8, a tile for the Browser Choice update will be added to the Start screen,” Microsoft notes.
“On a PC running Windows 7 or Windows 8, the Internet Explorer shortcut will be unpinned from the taskbar,” the company continues.
As soon as the update has been installed, Windows 8 users will be presented with the Browser Choice screen as soon as they reboot their PCs.
They can choose not to go for one of the options presented there, but they will be able to launch the ballot screen once again via the shortcut added to their Start Screen.
Those who would like to learn more on the Browser Choice screen should head over to Microsoft’s support website for that.
