Opera wants IE-less Windows

[impar]

Greetings!

[URL=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080114-monopolist-hunting-eu-launches-renewed-msft-antitrust-probe.html]Monopolist hunting: EU launches new MSFT antitrust probes

If there's a sense of déjà vu permeating a rather massive corporate campus in Redmond, Washington right now, it wouldn't be surprising. The European Commission, which regulates competition for the European Union, today announced a brand new antitrust investigation against Microsoft.

Like the investigation that resulted in a €497 million fine in 2004, the new investigation will look at whether Microsoft abused its dominant market position to give some of its own products an unfair advantage. This time around, the EC will be proceeding on two separate fronts.

The first area of investigation will concern the interoperability of some of Microsoft's products, including Office 2007, the .NET Framework, and some of Microsoft's server products. The investigation stems from a complaint filed by the European Committee for Interoperable Systems, which alleges that the new Office Open XML does not play nice with competing products.

The EC will also fully investigate a complaint filed late last year by Norwegian browser maker Opera. In it, Opera accused Microsoft of illegally tying Internet Explorer to Windows operating systems and not following "fundamental and open" standards for how web browsers render pages. Opera wants the EC to force Microsoft to begin offering versions of Windows without IE installed and to make the browser more standards-compliant. [/URL]

[impar]

Greetings!

[URL=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080219-opera-browser-market-isnt-functioning-thanks-to-microsoft.html]Opera: Browser market is broken—thanks to Microsoft

With recent news about Internet Explorer 8's imminent beta, Microsoft's long and checkered history with web standards compliance has been hurled back into the harsh, unflattering spotlight. Even though IE8 will have a new "standards compliant" mode, it won't be perfect, stirring up a new wave of grumbling about Microsoft's attitude and position in the browser market. [/URL]

[Seawolf]

So hey if MS was forced to stop bundling IE how would we download anything else? There'd be basically no realistic method of delivery.

Ahh, logistics....how we love to ignore thee.

[impar]

Greetings!

So hey if MS was forced to stop bundling IE how would we download anything else?

FTP?

[MiniMax]

So hey if MS was forced to stop bundling IE how would we download anything else? There'd be basically no realistic method of delivery.

Ahh, logistics....how we love to ignore thee.

You would take one of your AOL CD's, install the AOL browser, and download a real browser.

[Seawolf]

OK, aside from that being absolutely ridiculous, AOLs browser is worse than IE and that would be yet another thing people didn't understand.

Sure, we COULD download another browser by FTP, but how would we pick one? How would we know what to get? (I mean obviously, we know, but random guy doesn't.) You can't get information from a FTP address.

It just doesn't work.

[powerarmour]

So hey if MS was forced to stop bundling IE how would we download anything else? There'd be basically no realistic method of delivery.

Ahh, logistics....how we love to ignore thee.

You would take one of your AOL CD's, install the AOL browser, and download a real browser.

Or actually have MS Internet Explorer relegated to being a separate CD in the first place, then the OEM can choose to bundle whatever browser they wish with the machine.

[Seawolf]

I thought of that. It would work, but I don't really see it as necessary overall. People want to decouple things from Windows because people will stick with MS software, but wouldn't they do that anyways if they're already doing it? I'd rather have it stay as it is not because I prefer MS' bundled software but because if whatever software I happen to be using stops working for whatever reason, I have the fallback right there.

As it is all this decoupling just makes everything too complicated, and much like the WMPless Windows, I don't see an IEless Windows going anywhere.

[impar]

Greetings!

Or actually have MS Internet Explorer relegated to being a separate CD in the first place, ...

... And Outlook Express/Mail, Live Messenger, Windows Media Player, Paint, Games, Windows Defender, and, might as well put .NET Framework and SilverLight there too.

[impar]

Greetings!

Microsoft and Europe Finally Work Out Windows 7 Browser Differences