You’ve probably caught up with the news that Microsoft is going to offer a version of Windows to the European market, without Internet Explorer pre-installed. This seems to be a ploy that isn’t making anyone happy.
My interest here isn’t in what Microsoft and the EU agree to as an appropriate remedy for Microsoft’s market dominance in web browsers or past legal transgressions. My interest is in ensuring an increase in the global competition in operating system platforms. In short, unbundle IE in Europe? Why stop there? Why not unbundle the whole of Windows from all OEM PCs shipped in Europe?
This isn’t a new argument; I, and others, have made this suggestion before. In short, the best thing that the EU regulators can do to increase competition in the computer platform market is to ensure that consumers are offered a choice of operating system for every computer they buy.
Read more at ZDNet