Windows 7 will not include Internet Explorer in EU markets.

[NJ5]

Jereel Hunter said:

SamuelRSmith said:
I can't see how anyone could be in support of Microsoft for this. Microsoft are abusing their position in the Operating System market to gain in the browser market - that's anti-competitive behaviour.

You may be thinking "so what, they're free products" - but there's financial gain to be had from the browser market - why else do you think that Microsoft is acting in the way it is? Browsers gain revenue from people using the search bars in the corner, and it can also act as a way for Microsoft to push their own search and online services - more anti-competitive behaviour.

Microsoft also use the Windows-IE lock to try and create an IE-Windows lock. The more consumers get adjusted to Windows apps the less likely they are to go for alternative Operating Systems.

Microsoft's forced-monopoly in the browser market has led to a stagnation in the advancement of the web. What's the point in following web standards and embracing new web technologies if the market leading browser doesn't utilise them.

Anything a company does in order to gain an upper-hand over competition is "anti-competitive". MS gives away a browser for free, and it's bundled. Anyone that is against MS doesn't have a valid reason. You like a browser? download it. It's that easy. Download it with the freely installed IE. All those people that don't know enough to download another browser? Why should they simply not have one? The browsers are all freely available. And a browser like firefox is doing fine against IE. There's no reason to restrict a free option for people.

Let me put it this way. Remember when Nintendo had a monopoly of the handheld gaming market?

What would happen if Nintendo had bundled a "free" Nintendo 64 with each gameboy that they sold... That would practically give them domination of the console market by extension. It would be anti-competitive behavior too, and I'm sure that Sony and Sega would have made a lot of noise back then.

The situation with the browsers is analogous... the only difference is a browser is cheaper to make and distribute than a console, so it's easier for MS to pull off this trick.