Windows 7 browser ballot to go live next week
updated 10:55 am EST, Fri February 19, 2010
MS to launch browser choice screen March 1st
Microsoft on Friady said that its browser ballot in European versions of Windows will be launched next week, or slightly earlier than expected. This will, however, be a limited, with a full-blown launch scheduled for March 1st. The ballot will let Windows users pick which of the five most popular web browser they want to install and use as a default, presented in random order, with more, less popular browsers available to view as well.
The inital roster of choices will include both Microsoft's own Internet Explorer as well as Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera. Variants on these, such as the IE-based Maxthon browser, will also be available.
The need for the ballot came as a result of competition law issues with Internet Explorer being the default browser in Windows XP, Vista or 7, with users not getting an option. Now, when a Windows Update is launched, users will have the choice to install browsers from competing software companies. The initial test scheduled for next week will apply to users in the United Kingdom, Belgium and France.
Running the update in Windows 7 will also automatically unpin Internet Explorer from the taskbar if it's already set.
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According to Computer World, "On average, 86% of Windows 7 machines in the XPnet pool are regularly consuming 90%-95% of their available RAM, resulting in slow-downs as the systems were forced to increasingly turn to disk-based virtual memory to handle tasks."
It is good that MS is accepting the judgement passed down by the court, but they need to be more mindful of the judgement of the user. A browser of the user's choice makes little difference if the computer slows down to a snail's pace.