Microsoft browser ballot

[ganeshbala]

Microsoft browser ballot

Microsoft's antitrust settlement offer to the European Commission needs changes to restore fair competition to the market for Internet browsers, said some of the software giant's main rivals.

Their concerns about the settlement are echoed by ECIS, a trade group representing Oracle, IBM, Red Hat and others, as well as by consumer organisations following the Microsoft antitrust case.

Microsoft has proposed that Windows operating systems should show users a ballot screen inviting them to choose a Web browser from among the most popular ones when they first attempt to access the Internet.

Consumer organisations and the company's rivals generally approve of the idea, but believe the way Microsoft's ballot screen is designed is biased and will deter people from replacing Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser with another.