European regulators have forced Microsoft, the world's biggest software company, to open up its Windows operating system to rival Internet browsers in a landmark decision.
Bringing down the curtain on a decade-long anti-trust tussle, the legally-binding agreement will see new computer users presented as of March 2010 with 12 browser options when they configure their systems.
Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera, from the Norwegian company that first complained to competition enforcers in December 2007, will each be displayed prominently alongside Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
Another seven, regularly updated to reflect user charts, will also be included in an agreement that frees Microsoft from the threat of fines worth 10% of its turnover, which hit $58.44bn in the year to June.
Brussels also accepted a similar informal undertaking covering consumer choice in relation to other PC software and applications, calling a halt to a series of disputes which saw Microsoft hit with €1.68bn in EU fines.
The accord, which does not apply outside Europe, concerns computers running Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 and marks a step-change for the company, with strategic implications for Microsoft in other regions.
The decision will be implemented for five years from mid-March 2010 and represents ‘a Christmas present for hundreds of millions of Europeans,’ EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told a press conference.
Brussels threatened litigation on the browser issue in January this year, saying consumers were not being allowed to make an ‘unbiased’ choice.
Computer users are already able to download and install different broswers but patience is required as well as a minimum of expertise, whereas the new approach is intended to make it easy for novices to choose right from set-up.
