EU and Opera unhappy with Microsoft's decision to ship Windows 7 without IE

Several parties have commented on Microsoft's decision to ship Windows 7 without Internet Explorer in Europe.

The European Commission is unhappy with the move, and states that rather than providing more Microsoft opted to provide less. Removing IE from Windows isn't good enough, the EC wants to force Microsoft to bundle rival browsers with Windows as install options.

The EC says it took note of Microsoft decision to not bundle IE 8 with Windows 7, but it felt that the decision did not give users enough "genuine consumer choice". States an EC release, "At the level of both computer manufacturers and retail sales, the Commission's statement of objections (SO) suggested that consumers should be provided with a genuine choice of browsers. Given that over 95 percent of consumers acquire Windows pre-installed on a PC, it is particularly important to ensure consumer choice through the computer manufacturer channel."

The statement summarizes, "Rather than more choice, Microsoft seems to have chosen to provide less."

Opera Software has the same opinion, they would like to see a ballot screen that lets the user decide which browser he or she wants to install.

Opera Chief Technology Officer Håkon Wium Lie added in a statement, "We note with intereste that Microsoft now seems capable of separating IE from Windows. However, we do not believe that Microsoft’s move will restore competition for desktop browsers. Most users get their operating systems from the OEM channel and Microsoft will recommend that OEMs pre-install IE8. As such, users are unlikely to be given a genuine choice of browsers."

He continues, "We believe that the idea of a ‘ballot screen’ is better: when going online, users will be asked which browser(s) they prefer to use. The browser(s) of choice will the painlessly be installed and ready for use."