InfoWorld Home / Adventures in IT / Notes from the Field / Microsoft to tour Europe sans browsers
June 12, 2009

Microsoft to tour Europe sans browsers

Redmond's up to its old anti-anti-trust tricks, shipping Windows 7 in Europe minus Internet Explorer. If nothing else, you've got to admire Microsoft's chutzpah

| Print | 16 comments|
386 Recommendations

Ah, those wacky Europeans. They think nothing of stripping down and jumping into the Mediterranean in the altogether or, at most, those skimpy man sacks they call swimsuits.

Now Microsoft has announced it's going European. Next fall, copies of Windows will be bumming around the continent without their browsers. If the company has its way, users across the pond will be treated to Windows 7 E -- with the E standing for Excluding Explorer, or possibly just "Eff you, you cheese-loving snobs."

[ More Microsoft shenanigans, through the eyes of Cringely: "Is Bing worth a fling?" | Stay up to date on Robert X. Cringely's musings and observations with InfoWorld's Notes from the Underground newsletter. ]

As Microsoft veep Dave Heiner puts in his lawyerly way:

We’re committed to making Windows 7 available in Europe at the same time that it launches in the rest of the world, but we also must comply with European competition law as we launch the product.  Given the pending legal proceeding, we’ve decided that instead of including Internet Explorer in Windows 7 in Europe, we will offer it separately and on an easy-to-install basis to both computer manufacturers and users.  This means that computer manufacturers and users will be free to install Internet Explorer on Windows 7, or not, as they prefer. Of course, they will also be free, as they are today, to install other Web browsers.

Remember the mid-90s when Microsoft "crushed" Netscape by bundling IE with Win 95? Back then Microsoft told the DOJ's antitrust folks it wasn't possible to separate the browser from the OS. Apparently they managed to fix that problem. Are these guys innovators or what?

The problem? Nobody asked Microsoft to decouple IE from Windows. They went ahead and decided to do this all on their lonesome, those big-hearted galoots.

Related Content...

White Paper

D2D Virtual Tape Library Replication Primer

This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.

Download now »

White Paper

An Alternative to Virtualization for Datacenter Cost Savings

Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs. Another equally promising approach is the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Citrix NetScaler provides a low-cost way for organizations to reduce their server count and accrue cost savings from a reduction in space, cooling, power and personnel.

Download now »

White Paper

Why Your Firewall, VPN, and IEEE 802.11i Aren't Enough to Protect Your Network

The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.

Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation

Download now »

White Paper

Bringing the Edge to the Data Center

Effectively address data protection challenges, implementing solutions that help store and protect business–critical data while cutting costs and improving efficiency and reliability.

Download now »
15 of 16 comments
Sign In or Register to comment
beatlesfan94 12-Jun-09 9:54am
OK, say I'm in Europe and I buy a computer with Windows 7. I get home and discover I don't even have Internet Explorer. Let's also say this is my first computer, so I don't have another to download Firefox on and transfer it to my new one using a thumb drive. What am I supposed to be? Play Minesweep until the harddrive fails? Good going, Microsoft. You could've at least made it so you can install IE, but not actually have it installed. Maybe put the IE setup somewhere. Then, when you download Firefox (or Opera, or Chrome), you can uninstall IE.
BitHerder 12-Jun-09 11:40am
1 reply
Seems like Microsoft hit on just the right solution to me. Problem: it is unfair to bundle IE with Windows. Solution: unbundle IE. Let's face it, this whole thing is ridiculous. What's next? Surely Windows Firewall interferes with Symantec's ability to sell Norton Internet Security. Does MS including Notepad hamper the TextPad folks' ability to compete? If I write an NTFS file explorer, can I petition to have mine included on each Windows CD? And while we're at it, since when does a company have to include its competitor's products as well in the name of fairness? When I buy a Chevy, it comes with a Chevy engine. the NERVE! Shouldn't I get a choice of which company's engine to install the first time I turn the key? This whole thing is nothing more than a "success tax" on Microsoft by the EU, because everyone hates the big evil MS monopoly so they can get away with it. I've got another solution for MS: Don't offer Windows 7 for sale in Europe.
tcapun 22-Jun-09 5:50pm
Dear BH,

You've overlooked the obvious.

How about if you bought that Chevy and were told you had to pick up the engine in the next county but don't worry, it's FREE.

Now that would be a valid analogy to having purchased a PC with NO internet access.
fishersystems 12-Jun-09 1:10pm
1 reply
Seems to me this non-solution begs the question: if you don't have a browser, how are you going to download one? Even in Europe? I must admit it gives me great satisfaction to use IE to download FireFox; this is one of my routine first steps with any new computer I am setting up. BitHerder was probably not around when Microsoft got into the browser business. They were late into the market, had an inferior product, and used their bundling prowess to literally force Netscape out of business. I'm not intending to argue the relative merits of the various browsers here: over a decade has passed, we have more choice than ever, and browser wars are no longer where the new technology battles are fought. Still, I believe that the EC anti-monopoly ruling against MS is fair and just and based on true antipathy to MS' outrageous behavior. I can't help thinking, though, that both parties have been dealing with this issue rather childishly.
tcapun 22-Jun-09 6:08pm
Dear FS,

I don't know if they have also modified Windows Explorer along with deleting Internet Explorer, but, the last time I checked, typing in a URL on the Windows Explorer, folder/file address line, automatically launches IE to that address.

Of course, if there is no IE, will it BSOD or just hang in version 7.0?

Finally, there is always Telnet accessing an FTP connection for the Truly Hearty. But wasn't that the reason Mozilla invented browsers in the first place, because URL's and Command Protocols were OBNOXIOUS data entry work?
KeepItSimple 12-Jun-09 2:01pm
1 reply
OK, lets say you are in Europe and you get the new OS without IE. You next have found a way to install Firefox. Now how do you patch the OS without IE? Looks like you will be looking for a non-Microsoft method to keep the OS up to date.
tcapun 22-Jun-09 6:11pm
Dear KIS,

There is one. It is the method that system administrators use in multiPC environments all over the world, so that they don't have to keep downloading the same updates through MS's ultra friendly ASPX control system.♠
somebodysnobody 13-Jun-09 5:34am
Isn't it fraud to sell something that is non-functional? I mean, if you can't access windows update then the operating system won't work as advertised. Clearly having an available choice of browsers as opposed to no browser at all would fall into the category of noncompliance with EU requirements.
Phansigar 15-Jun-09 4:46am
1 reply
Functioning with "IE-only" web sites (Cringe's bank, Windows Update, etc) is easy with Firefox. Click Tools - Add-ons - Get Add-ons and search for and install IE Tab. It works with all versions of Firefox, makes it render like IE, and works with maybe 95% of IE-only web sites, including Win Update! If computer vendors in Europe are smart they'll offer buyers a choice of browser with their computers, even if no browser is installed, but comes on a CD, flash drive, or as an installer (for one or more browser) on the hard drive.
tcapun 22-Jun-09 6:13pm
OUCH!

What do you think the IE tab calls to render its code?
stewartbryson 15-Jun-09 5:35am
Phansigar: IE Tab only runs IE inside of Firefox. Sorry... you are still using Internet Explorer in these instances.
dicksond 15-Jun-09 12:35pm
Interesting that the assumption here is that PCs will be shipped without any browser if MS removes IE from Windows. Of course, PC manufacturers will ship some browser, or browsers, and make a few bucks doing so. Then you can download whatever added browser(s) you wish, surely including IE, since we do need it for Windows updates. As to whether or not the EU was correct in pushing MS to do something about the bundling, I am not expert on that. I can say that MS has surely been guilty of anti-competitive behavior for years, and if they could figure out a way to use Windows to crush Google, they would do it again in a flash, EU be damned. So even if this is not a perfect solution, it is a form of punishment that is deserved. Gotta run, looks like my windows update is calling.
chrisjmiller 15-Jun-09 1:06pm
Of course, it isn't that hard to download a browser without a browser, as long as you can spell 'FTP' and can find out where to point it (Internet != WWW). Admittedly this would be beyond a significant proportion of Windows users.
rcprimak 17-Jun-09 12:04pm
1 reply

To All --

I hope you folks are aware that under Windows 7 the ability to use Automatic Updates directly from the Windows Security Center, and to set it to "Notify but Do Not Install" will still be there. And third-party security programs can be obtained on CDs. Very few of these programs must use IE to get their updates.

There is no need for the browser version of IE in order to use these features, even as far back as Windows XP.

And Firefox does come on a CD, along with OpenOffice.org and some nice utilities. Several web sites offer this option. It isn't free, but ordering the CD can be done at any computer, even a public one.

Of course, it would probably be nicer if in Europe Microsoft would allow Mozilla, and the makers of the other browsers, to put out their own collection of browsers and provide the whole package on a CD or DVD. That would be the correct solution to these issues, IMHO.

tcapun 22-Jun-09 6:29pm
re: Microsoft would allow browsers and others to launch their packages from a CD that MS supplies...

... and where are the BILLIONS of dollars, i.e. Euros, in your frikkin' plan?

Let's not lose sight of the fact that MS supplies IE, faults and all, for free, along with years of free updates to make it eventually work and all for, did I mention, free.

... Why?

Because they are a platonic, philanthropic super hero? NFW!

... it's free because all of the ancillary product positioning pays for it.

... it's free because IE still has the most ineffective popup protection available and that only after 5 versions without any protection.

... it's free because corporate clients are FORCED into using it.

... it's free because it took the EU an ungodly amount of time and effort to force MS to keep it out of Windows

... finally, it's free because it is the most insecure browser on the planet, as in "What do you get when 10,000 minimum experience programmers write a browser?"

Sign up to receive InfoWorld Resource Alerts

Subscribe to the Robert X. Cringely: Notes from the Trenches Newsletter

The one-stop resource center for IT professionals.

©1994-2009 Infoworld, Inc.