Microsoft has said that starting March 1 2010, windows users of its Internet Explorer browser will be given the choice as to whether or not they want to continue using that browser, or switch to a different one.
The company says that Internet Explorer users will see a pop-up screen when opening Internet Explorer for the first time after installing a software update on or around Feb 28th. The pop-up will inform users of alternative browsers and allow them to install the alternatives.
Microsoft’s Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Dave Heiner, announced the news today in a blog post on the Microsoft On The Issues blog. He said that the pop-up notice would allow people to automatically install alternative browsers, simply by selecting them.
Microsoft will offer further information and a button to install either Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari or Opera in the notice, but it will also give users the opportunity to install Internet Explorer 8, if they are using an earlier version of Microsoft’s browser.
The move comes after the resolution of the European Commission in December with regards to a long-running competition case. Microsoft said that it was “pleased” with the agreement, in which they committed to continue to allow manufacturers and users to “install any browser on top of Windows, to make any browser the default browser on new PCs, and to turn access to Internet Explorer on or off”.
They also agreed to this “browser choice” screen, which would be displayed to users of Internet Explorer to help them make an educated choice of browser they wish to use.
It will be interesting to see what affect if any this has on Microsofts current dominance in the Web Browser Wars. I'm sure most people will automatically ignore what the notice has to say, but those who do stop and read it will be doing themselves a real favour.
Because Microsofts browser is the most popular it is also the one that is most exploited by browser hijacks, viruses and spyware applications. Not inherently any less safe (or more) then the other browsers, just more targeted.
By providing other browsers with a chance at the "top spot" perhaps the virus writers of the world will have to spread out their efforts? Either way, I’m glad that people are being given a more upfront opportunity to make their own mind up and I’m sure that the other browsers will not be happy to have a fair chance at gaining user share.
The Microsoft “The Browser Choice” Blog Post here
No comments:
Post a Comment