davehc said:
But, fwiw, I do feel that Microsoft have only paid lipservice to the EU law, which seems to have satisfied both sides. IE is not removed from the product, it is still totalæly installed, when the installation of the OS is completed, it is merely on "standby" waiting for the users input. If you, at that point, cancel the browser options screen, you will find IE still listed in the Start menu.
Whoa! That is not a fair or just statement at all! Microsoft had every intention of distributing the "Windows 7 E", a browser-less version of Window 7, throughout Europe, but the
European Commission had a cow and said,
consumers should be offered a choice of browser, not that Windows should be supplied without a browser at all.
Microsoft is not the big bad monster of yesteryear that their marketing department had them be for so long.
Microsoft got slammed and bashed for XP being a sieve with security holes. But everybody, especially the IT media and MS bashing bloggers seem to forget MS was forced to weigh legacy (read: less or not secure) hardware and software support over security by big corporate clients tired of buying all new hardware every time a new Windows came out. The Internet was in its infancy with NOBODY expecting how prolific the Internet would be for badguys. Microsoft tried to add antivirus to Windows but Norton, McAfee, CA and the other AV makers cried and whined to Congress and the EU it was their job to rid the world of malware and that MS was trying to rule the world. They were but that was then, not now. Congress and EU believed them and threated to spit Microsoft up into tiny pieces.
But Norton, McAfee, ZoneAlarm, and the others blew smoke up their a$$ - malware and cybercrime got nothing but worse and MS got the blame, not the badguys. Since there is absolutely NO incentive for Norton or McAfee to rid the world of malware, it and badguys flourished.
But who got blamed for the security mess? MS, XP, Bill Gates, Microsoft. So Microsoft decided they can get blamed for many things, but not for the security mess we are in. It is badguys and bad elected leaders who don't fund enforcement of even the existing laws.
Another discussion.
Starting with Vista (though the UAC was an overreaction - they adjusted with Win7) and when MS bought Giant Anti-Spyware and gave it away free as Windows Defender, Microsoft took Congress and the EU and security seriously, and put security first.
Windows Firewall is an excellent firewall, that is integrated into Windows and in Windows 7 is enabled by default. However, you can easily disable it and install a 3rd party FW, if you wish.
Paint, Calculator, Photo Viewer, media player are all applets that can be replaced with options of your choice. If the one included just happens to meet your needs, we can't hold Microsoft at fault for that. Nor can we assume that every Windows computer will have Internet access in order to get a calculator or image viewer.
IF Microsoft made a browser-less Windows, how would newbie users download a browser? So uses have a default browser. If they want another, or 3 or 4, they can have them.
but there's doing things one way 'cos you can and doing it 'cos it's the morally right thing to do
And then there's doing it because you were told to do it that way.
I think the EU got it right - this time. Users need a browser to get started. Microsoft just happens to have an excellent one in IE8, with IE9 looking even better just around the corner. But if someone prefers an alternative, just like the firewall, they can use the services and protection provided by Microsoft's offerings until they have their alternative applications ready.
