Now Europe is upset because Microsoft has bundled Internet Explorer with Windows
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At one time, Microsoft bashing was a popular pastime for fiery journalists and fearless columnists who didn't believe that they had earned their pay check if they didn't write at least one nasty piece about Microsoft every week. Such people had a field time during the days of the dot-com boom, and pundit after self-styled pundit gloated over the apparent demise of the Redmond monolith. All such prophesies were proved wrong.
Some of the issues raised by the commission give us the impression that a studious study may not have been made by the commission before arriving at conclusions. I am not a Microsoft supporter actually I was a Microsoft basher a long time ago but, irrespective of whether we love or hate Microsoft, we should always be fair to this or any other company.
According to information appearing on ft.com, the commission's main issues are that bundling IE with Windows (a) harms competition, (b) undermined product innovation and (c) reduces consumer choice. Let's look at these things in depth:
a. Harms competition: IE is the dominant browser today, no doubt according to marketshare.hitslink.com on January 19, 2009, IE had a market share of 68.15 per cent, while Firefox and Safari stood at 21.34 per cent and 7.93 per cent respectively but this doesn't mean that it has hurt the competition.
b. Undermines product innovation: On the contrary, competing browsers have come up with innovations that have benefited customers. An example is the tabbed browser interface, pioneered by Opera 4, which is today found in all major browsers.
c. Reduces consumer choice: In what way? I use Opera 9 and there is nothing that Microsoft is doing to reduce my browsing experience.
Overall, nobody should have a problem with Microsoft bundling IE along with Windows, as long as they don't try to ensure that this is the only browser that works. Of course, one reason why one should look at alternative browsers is because IE is targeted more often by hackers simply because of its popularity.
QUICK TAKE
>>European regulators say Microsoft shouldn't bundle IE with Windows
>>They claim that this hurts competition
>>But Microsoft's dominance may spur competition to work harder
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