Microsoft faces more criticism over the browser "ballet screen" proposal it made to European antitrust regulators, possibly delaying a deal, the Wall Street Journal said Sunday.
According to a story published on the newspaper's Web site, the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), a trade group whose members include Norwegian browser maker Opera Software, argued that the ballot screen concept would confuse users.
In late July, Microsoft said it would give Windows users a chance to download rivals' browsers, part of its campaign this year to mollify the European Commission, the EU's antitrust agency, which filed charges in January 2009 accusing the company of shielding Internet Explorer (IE) from competition by bundling it with Windows.
A key part of that plan would be a "ballot screen" that EU Windows users would see if IE was set as the default browser. Under Microsoft's proposal, the ballot would offer links to downloads of Mozilla's Firefox, Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome and Opera's flagship Opera.
This summer, the commission issued questionnaires to those competitors, as well as to computer makers and others, asking for opinions on the Microsoft proposal.
Although at least one rival browser maker, U.S.-based Mozilla, has said it wanted changes made to Microsoft's proposal, the ECIS is the first to publicly acknowledge it has officially informed the commission of its concerns.
More: http://computerworld.com/s/article/9138578/
According to a story published on the newspaper's Web site, the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), a trade group whose members include Norwegian browser maker Opera Software, argued that the ballot screen concept would confuse users.
In late July, Microsoft said it would give Windows users a chance to download rivals' browsers, part of its campaign this year to mollify the European Commission, the EU's antitrust agency, which filed charges in January 2009 accusing the company of shielding Internet Explorer (IE) from competition by bundling it with Windows.
A key part of that plan would be a "ballot screen" that EU Windows users would see if IE was set as the default browser. Under Microsoft's proposal, the ballot would offer links to downloads of Mozilla's Firefox, Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome and Opera's flagship Opera.
This summer, the commission issued questionnaires to those competitors, as well as to computer makers and others, asking for opinions on the Microsoft proposal.
Although at least one rival browser maker, U.S.-based Mozilla, has said it wanted changes made to Microsoft's proposal, the ECIS is the first to publicly acknowledge it has officially informed the commission of its concerns.
More: http://computerworld.com/s/article/9138578/