Microsoft to Deliver Windows 7 in Europe WITH Browsers



2009 August, 1st
Liliana Dumitru-Steffens
Liliana Dumitru-Steffens

Not long ago Microsoft announced that Windows 7 will be supplied in Europe without IE, as a response to antitrust regulators at the European Commission who tried to persuade Microsoft to open Windows to other browsers.

Now Microsoft had a sudden change of heart and announced that Windows 7 in Europe will not be browserless after all. The company will ship Windows 7 with Internet Explorer in a “ballot screen” in which users in Europe can decide whether they want Internet Explorer or another browser.

Windows 7 Ballot Screen

What caused this change of heart? The concerns raised by computer manufacturers and partners, according to deputy general counsel Dave Heiner:

“Several worried about the complexity of changing the version of Windows that we ship in Europe if our ballot screen proposal is ultimately accepted by the Commission and we stop selling Windows 7 ‘E’. Computer manufacturers and our partners also warned that introducing Windows 7 ‘E’, only to later replace it with a version of Windows 7 that includes IE, could confuse consumers about what version of Windows to buy with their PCs.”

All’s well that ends well, as they say. If weeks ago we criticized a browserless Windows 7 as poor PR from Microsoft, should we now salute the new move as smart PR?

Source: Microsoft: No browserless Windows 7 after all

About the Author

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Liliana Dumitru-Steffens is public relations consultant for Pamil Visions PR. She writes for Everything PR since January 2009. Previously she worked for My-tronic GmbH and Unilever Romania. Email Liliana at lsteffens [at] pamil-visions [dot] net.

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