"Opera Software filed a complaint with the European Commission yesterday which is aimed at giving consumers a genuine choice of Web browsers. The complaint describes how Microsoft is abusing its dominant position by tying its browser, Internet Explorer, to the Windows operating system and by hindering interoperability by not following accepted Web standards. Opera has requested the Commission to take the necessary actions to compel Microsoft to give consumers a real choice and to support open Web standards in Internet Explorer."
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Member since:2007-12-10
Yeah, but good luck proving Firefox is better than IE, especially to non-technical judges. "Better" is highly subjective, I know several people that prefer IE, precisely because they consider it "better". "Better" doesn't necessarily mean "Better features" or "More secure". Anyway, good luck to Opera, I hope they win the judgement.
Member since:2006-06-21
You're going on the wrong track here. Nobody will care which browser is "better". What is being discussed is the fact that Microsoft has a monopoly with Windows and takes advantage of that by bundling Internet Explorer (and Windows Explorer) in a manner that makes it unfair.
It is unfair that one piece of software should be included with Windows when others are not. What makes it especially unfair in the case of Explorer is that you can't remove it. You cannot take either Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer off a Windows system. This makes any browser or file manager manufacturer entitled to accuse them of abusing their monopoly. It's unfair competition.
Someone said something about Calculator and other pieces of software. It's not the same thing, because you can remove Calculator and install a competing alternative. An OEM can bundle another Calculator by default if they want. But try as they might, they cannot unbundle Windows and Internet Explorer. For both technical and political reasons (ie. Microsoft would take their head off). That make Microsoft ripe for this kind of lawsuit.
Edited 2007-12-13 22:09
Member since:
2006-01-14
Thats an interesting argument. On one hand you can argue that Firefox is succeeding despite IE being bundled with Windows. On the other hand you could argue that Firefox has failed because at certain points when it was head and shoulders above IE in quality/abilities, it still hasnt gained more than 20% market share. Which kind of proves that IE is where it is BECAUSE it is tied to Windows.