3 ms·
The EU forced Microsoft to give Windows users a choice of browsers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrowserChoice.eu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrowserChoice.
by betterunix2 9y ago
The EU forced Microsoft to give Windows users a choice of browsers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrowserChoice.eu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrowserChoice.eu
Having IE preinstalled was not necessary; OEMs could have (and some did) preinstall other browsers. What happened was that Microsoft decided to base unrelated parts of Windows on IE so that their browser would have to be preinstalled (Windows would not function without it). There was top-level direction on that decision and it was not actually motivated by a specific technical need.
- user5994461 9y agoOEM get paid to install software, they are not a receivable argument for what should be in a reasonable default install.
- betterunix2 9y agoMaybe so, but there is also the fact that a lot of third-party software for Windows used IE simply because it was there, which obviously ate the market share of other browsers.