In response to the EU's concerns about Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer in Windows, Microsoft has offered to provide a "browser ballot" with the newest version of its operating system software.
Interesting enough, even without a ballot, Firefox has been making progress in the U.S. and Europe without any help from Microsoft (or the EU Commission). According to http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/03/firefox-3-marketshare-exceeds-internet-explorer-7-in-europe.ars, use of Firefox 3.0 surpassed IE 7 in Europe earlier this year.
For what its worth, bundling does not guarantee success of a product. It certainly didn't help Microsoft Money against Quicken! However, the EU seems to feel differently, so maybe the browser ballot (aren't browsers free, anyway?) will put this particular matter to rest, at least for a while. It's definitely a different approach than offering Windows to Europeans without any browser.
Kerrie Meyler, MVP, MCSE, MCTS, CNA, MA, BA, is an independent consultant and trainer with over fifteen years of experience in IT. While at Microsoft in Field Technical Sales for four years she focused on infrastructure and mangement, presenting at numerous product launches. Kerrie has presented Operations Manager 2007 at TechEd 2007 and MMS 2009 and at internal Microsoft conferences, receiving company recognition and awards including a SPAR MGS award. Kerrie worked with Microsoft Learning to develop functional specifications for the original Operations Manager Microsoft courseware, 2550: Implementing Microsoft Operations Manager 2000 and did the beta teach for that course.She also participated in the alpha walkthrough for the 70-400: Configuring Microsoft System Center Operations Manager certification exam.
She is the lead author of Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Unleashed, Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed, and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007 Unleashed. Kerrie is currently developing an eBook on Operations Manager 2007 R2.
Check out an excerpt from System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed, Chapter 3: Looking Inside OpsMgr.
Kerrie's latest book, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007 Unleashed by Kerrie Meyler, Byron Holt, and Greg Ramsey has been selected as the August, 2009, Microsoft Subnet book giveaway (a $59.99 value). Check out an excerpt from System Center Configuration (SCCM) Manager 2007 Unleashed, Chapter 3: Looking Inside ConfigMgr.
Visit the Microsoft Subnet home page for giveaway details and entry forms.
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IE Bundle
It’s not about bundling. It’s about improving the capability of the Operating System to react to its environment. When larger disk drives came out, the drivers were not considered ‘bundled’. When Ethernet arrived, those interfaces were not considered a separate part of the Operating System. So now, why is building an interface to the Internet considered a bundle to crush competition? Could it have something to do with the hundreds of millions they are collecting in fines from Microsoft?
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