Microsoft has been landed with a staggering €561m (roughly £486m) fine, after European regulators found the software giant hadn't offered PC owners enough of a choice when it came to their browser.
The fine was handed down by the European Commission, as punishment for neglecting an anti-monopoly settlement from 2009, the New York Times reports. In that settlement the company behind Clippy vowed to offer Windows users a choice of which browser they wanted to use, instead of simply defaulting to its own Internet Explorer.
The result was 2010's browser ballot, which you may have spied yourself if you've started up a new Windows PC in the last couple of years. The ballot offered rival operating systems such as Firefox, Google Chrome and Apple's Safari browser.
The order in which rival browsers would appear on the ballot was a subject of heated debate, but eventually Microsoft plumped for the five most popular Web browsers appearing in random order.
Good stuff, but Microsoft seemingly dropped the ball, with a version of Windows 7 (SP1) not offering users the choice. The company reportedly says it has updated both Windows 7 and Windows 8 to include the ballot, but that hasn't stopped anti-monopoly officials sending the firm a monstrous bill.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser remains popular, though critics say a huge part of that success is because it's been the default software on Windows PCs for a long time.
Which browser is your favourite? Let me know in the comments or on our Facebook wall.
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Comments 4
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shauney3 6 March, 2013 15:51
O dear...
Damien2501 6 March, 2013 16:51
M$ did far worse stuff in the 90s/early 00s and got away with it. And IE is the worst piece of software I have come across, Chrome FTW.
anonymous 6 March, 2013 19:51
Why is Apple allowed to bundle Safari with OSX, yet Microsoft aren't allowed to bundle IE with their operating system?
anonymous 7 March, 2013 22:11
This is a absolute disgrace and just shows how crazy the EU is. People are sensible enough to be able to choose their own browser. The browser choice that Microsoft were forced to add is a major annoyance.
Whey aren't Apple investigated for forcing you to have their browser (that cannot be removed) maps that are useless and cannot be removed and iTunes that you are forced to use, That's not to mention the price controls that they enforce.