Trade Group: Stripping IE From Windows Harms ISVs

**MIG-31** · May 25, 2009, 05:02 PM

A European Commission antitrust ruling against Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer into the Windows OS may be good for consumers, but it's a nightmare for independent software developers, said Jonathan Zuck, president of the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) Monday.
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Source: PC World

IvanV · May 25, 2009, 05:41 PM

I'm not sure if I agree that it would be such a huge problem. Traditionally, retail games come with DX version they need, and with digital distribution it seems even easier.

Still, I think that it would be dumb to force MS to remove IE from Windows, as every modern OS distribution comes together with a web browser of the vendor's choice. In such climate it is only natural that MS would do the same. Even as things currently are, with today's speed of Internet access and the size of web browsers (which has actually shrunken in some cases, as before FF the full Mozilla Suite was about 30MB), the end user has an easy choice.

Force MS to allow OEMs to preinstall alternative browsers (not the case at the moment, I understand)? Yes. Force MS to make IE a deactivatable feature in Windows? Okay. But let's stop at that. One can argue about what is and what isn't really a part of the OS, but when you're buying one, chances are that you're expecting to get more than the bare kernel.

May 25, 2009, 05:02 PM	#1
MIG-31 HardwareHeaven News Mod Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 56,843 Rep Power: 471 System Specs	Trade Group: Stripping IE From Windows Harms ISVs A European Commission antitrust ruling against Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer into the Windows OS may be good for consumers, but it's a nightmare for independent software developers, said Jonathan Zuck, president of the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) Monday. ____________ Source: PC World __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here

May 25, 2009, 05:41 PM	#2
IvanV HH Assassin Guild Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5,917 Rep Power: 336 System Specs	Re: Trade Group: Stripping IE From Windows Harms ISVs I'm not sure if I agree that it would be such a huge problem. Traditionally, retail games come with DX version they need, and with digital distribution it seems even easier. Still, I think that it would be dumb to force MS to remove IE from Windows, as every modern OS distribution comes together with a web browser of the vendor's choice. In such climate it is only natural that MS would do the same. Even as things currently are, with today's speed of Internet access and the size of web browsers (which has actually shrunken in some cases, as before FF the full Mozilla Suite was about 30MB), the end user has an easy choice. Force MS to allow OEMs to preinstall alternative browsers (not the case at the moment, I understand)? Yes. Force MS to make IE a deactivatable feature in Windows? Okay. But let's stop at that. One can argue about what is and what isn't really a part of the OS, but when you're buying one, chances are that you're expecting to get more than the bare kernel. __________________ If anyone has Portal 2 and hasn't played the co-op and wants to do me a favour, let me know (PM me or whatever).