Windows 7E is the version of the Windows 7 operating system that will be sold – as of now – in all countries of the European Union. It is basically a version of the Windows 7 operating system without Internet Explorer. This has caused quite some concern by users in the European Union as they face several problems that users of regular Windows 7 editions do not face including the impossibility to perform an upgrade of Windows Vista to Windows 7 or the problem that arises from not having an Internet browser.
Microsoft’s new proposal could ultimately remove Windows 7E from the operating system landscape. They suggest to provide a ballot screen after installation giving users the choice to install a web browser of their choice from a selection of possible alternatives including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Safari.
A mockup screen was posted that visualizes how the ballot screen could look like (please note that the browserballot.eu website is currently not working)
Additional blank spots are reserved on the right side of the screen that could be filled with additional web browsers if requested or needed. It should be noted that this new proposal would mean that Internet Explorer would be installed as the default web browser during installation of the operating system and that the ballot screen would be displayed afterwards to give the user the option to install another web browser and make it the default browser on the computer system.
Microsoft’s proposal is available at the Microsoft Presspass website.
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And who will choose browsers presented and compose their descriptions?.. Microsoft? :)
That just sucks! I liked the idea of not having IE install at all. I don’t use it, so it just wastes space being there. I’d rather MS just not include the damn browser!
Microsoft is trying to meet the EU nanny state mentality.
I suppose the EU might still complain the proposal
would first install IE as the default before the
option of the ballot screen appears.
Since this does treat users like
children though the EU just
might accept it as offered.