Microsoft said on Sunday it would not separate its Internet Explorer (IE) Web browser from versions of Windows 7 shipped to the EU when the new operating system launches worldwide in October.
Microsoft said it had abandoned plans to strip IE from the package to avoid breaching EU competition rules, but would instead present customers with a “ballot” option, allowing them to choose whether to install IE or another browser.
Microsoft said the option had been tentatively welcomed by the European Commission and received positive feedback from computer makers.
The Brussels-based EU executive, which wields broad antitrust powers, had called on Microsoft to open Windows to different Internet browsers in order to fend off litigation.
“I’m pleased to report that we will ship the same version of Windows 7 in Europe in October that we will ship in the rest of the world,” Microsoft deputy general counsel Dave Heiner said in a message on the firm’s Web site.
“We’re now confident that shipping Windows 7 with IE in Europe, as we will in the rest of the world, is the right thing to do for our partners and for our customers,” Heiner said.
Under the new plan, people who buy computers with Windows 7 pre-installed will be presented with the ballot screen when they first connect to the Internet.
It will let new Windows 7 users select and then install Web browsers of their choice to replace IE on their computers, Heiner said.
Microsoft said it could revert to shipping a Windows 7 E version, without IE included, in the EU depending on feedback from the European Commission.
“We recognize that there are still several steps ahead in the Commission’s review of our proposal and that we are not done,” Heiner wrote. “We will fully engage in that process with the hope that our proposal will be accepted.”
The commission, Europe’s top competition watchdog, opened the new front in its epic antitrust battle with Microsoft in January.
Microsoft recently declared its next-generation Windows 7 operating system ready for delivery to computer makers.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
RSS