Mozilla asks EU to reject Microsoft's Windows 7 browser

[raj11650]

Mozilla Foundation officials last week launched a concerted campaign to prod European Union antitrust regulators to demand more from Microsoft Corp. than the browser ballot screen the company has promised to offer Windows 7 users later this year.

Microsoft told EU antitrust officers on July 24 that to ease their concerns about its market dominance, it would provide European users a choice of Web browsers with its upcoming Windows 7 operating system.



Mitchell Baker, the former CEO and current chairwoman of the Mozilla Foundation, and Harvey Anderson, Mozilla's chief counsel, last week wrote lengthy blog posts citing their concerns about the Microsoft proposal and spelling out the changes they want to see in Windows 7.



John Lilly, Mozilla's current CEO, called the blog posts "part of our effort to get across our point of view. In principle, [Microsoft's proposal] sounds good, but in practice, the way they implement it will make a big difference."



In one of last week's posts, Baker argued that even if the plan were accepted, IE would enjoy most-favored-browser status. "Even if everything in the currently proposed settlement is implemented in the most positive way, IE will still have a unique and uniquely privileged position on Windows installations," she said.



Anderson said that his concerns about the plan include IE's continued ties with other Microsoft software, particularly Office, and the unfair advantage IE would maintain because the other browsers must be downloaded.
Mozilla is also calling on Microsoft to extend its plans for EU countries to users around the world.



EU regulators have not set a timetable for a final decision on Microsoft's proposal, but sources close to Microsoft have said they expect a resolution before the end of October.

Source

 

[Lee]

Ain't life grand. Who will be next to fine something that shouldn't be in Windows OS. This is getting a wee bit stupid. Maybe it is time to go after Linux for including Firefox in all of their distros, or maybe apple for including only Safari in their System. What ever happened to if I build it then only I have the right to decide what should be included.

 

[Dinesh]

I see no reason for such stupid things becoming a "news". Its just a matter of a browser. If its not included, get another one. That's so simple.

 

[Nigsy]

How can apple get away with inflicting Quicktime on me as part of the Itunes software?? surely this practice must now also be banned.

 

[swarfega]

boycott firefox! Theyre just making life harder for computer users. They should be thankful of a fair and reasonable ballot box.

 

[raj11650]

I see no reason for such stupid things becoming a "news". Its just a matter of a browser. If its not included, get another one. That's so simple.

for us it may be just another news but its business for FF:shock:

 

[chuckr]

Bring back 'Windows 7_E'.

That's pretty fair to all of EU and their browser people...

 

[Dwarf]

Oh no, here we go again. In some ways, I can understand Opera's stance on this as they would like to get a decent foothold in the browser market - but Mozilla FireFox? They already have a decent share, and tactics like this can only do one thing. This is to alienate people who might have chosen FF. Personally, I prefer and use IE, but that is my choice.

As I have stated elsewhere, I don't see the problem in having IE included. Although it is the default browser, MS accepts that there are other browsers available (I've already mentioned 2 in this post, and there are countless others also available with varying amounts of market share), and as such gives you the option to download and use whichever one you wish.

Ain't life grand. Who will be next to fine something that shouldn't be in Windows OS. This is getting a wee bit stupid. Maybe it is time to go after Linux for including Firefox in all of their distros, or maybe apple for including only Safari in their System. What ever happened to if I build it then only I have the right to decide what should be included.

Very well put, Lee.

Imagine buying a car, only to find that there is no engine in it because a rival manufacturer has complained that the car builder wants to use its own engines instead of an alternative?

I have only one comment to make with all of that, and it's this: :mad2: :mad2::mad2:

 

[wwoods]

Bring back 'Windows 7_E'.

That's pretty fair to all of EU and their browser people...

At this point, if I were MS, I would say OK...NP....and strip ALL browsers out of Win7 and sell that in the EU....

Bring back E, except dont shop a second CD with anything, let em deal with it, and all can thank the EU.

 

[Scotteq]

What's next? Makers of Windows management utilities can sue to have Task Manager removed?

 

[wwoods]

What's next? Makers of Windows management utilities can sue to have Task Manager removed?

I am thinking the EU is gonna sue because its the OS on a new PC and doesnt offer options to install a new OS................

 

[Zidane24]

Honestly you would think that all these other companies are making Windows 7...how dare Mozilla Foundation or any other software maker "demand" a set of changes for a product that THEY rely on to have their product run...I will never use FF again because of this

FF go burn in hell....

 

[Klaw117]

This is getting way out of hand. Everyone's picking on Microsoft now since it's a monopoly. If you ask me, Microsoft should quit selling its merchandise in Europe just to prove a point. As unrealistic as this sounds, I think it's the only way we can get the EU to get off Microsoft's back. Then they can come crying back to us when they realize that their stupid rulings have driven Microsoft out of the European market.

 

[blackroseMD1]

This is getting ridiculous. Who is Mozilla, or the EU for that matter, to tell Microsoft what they can or can't include in their own freaking OS? If Mozilla is really that concerned about market share, maybe they should come up with their own operating system, and bundle Firefox with it.

Granted, I use Firefox myself, but I still find it messed up that Mozilla, Opera etc have any say at all about what Microsoft can do with their OS.

Make your own, or quit your *****ing!

Honestly you would think that all these other companies are making Windows 7...how dare Mozilla Foundation or any other software maker "demand" a set of changes for a product that THEY rely on to have their product run...I will never use FF again because of this

FF go burn in hell....

Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, I've pretty much switched over to Chrome now that they have bookmark syncing.

 

[johnwillyums]

I love W7 and I loved Vista and XP before that but that doesn't mean I can't see MS abusing it's market position all over the world.
It's not just the EU that find MS is anti competitive or uses dubious business tactics to crush it's rivals. I seem to recall that US courts have found against MS in similar cases as have other countries.
That does not mean I agree with Mozilla Foundation sticking it's oar in at this stage of the game.
As has been pointed out they have a good market share in Europe and should concentrate on building on that instead of alienating people. Opera is fighting for survival.
I like FF and don't wish for it to burn in hell but someone in their PR team should have pointed out that this latest statement was a bad idea.

Cheers, J

 

[burtie]

Again I agree with everyone, its just getting plain silly now.

 

[BCXtreme]

I'm surprised that this came from Mozilla. This is the kind of thing I would except Apple to do, as the maker of Safari. I really thought Mozilla was fairer than that. But I guess now that everyone's smelling blood, no one will be happy until THEIR product is given the advantage in Windows.

Wasn't all this "antitrust" stuff originally supposed to make everything equal, so that neither the big corps NOR the little corps had a massive advantage? I think they overshot...

 

[Zidane24]

I'm surprised that this came from Mozilla. This is the kind of thing I would except Apple to do, as the maker of Safari. I really thought Mozilla was fairer than that. But I guess now that everyone's smelling blood, no one will be happy until THEIR product is given the advantage in Windows.

Wasn't all this "antitrust" stuff originally supposed to make everything equal, so that neither the big corps NOR the little corps had a massive advantage? I think they overshot...

Indeed that was the original purpose...Mozilla and all the other companies out there are even worse that Microsoft now. The war is one-sided and Microsoft is not able to attack back. I would shed no tears if Microsoft pulled its product from the EU or made it very hard for a company like Mozilla to run their product on Windows....

Remember that Mozilla NEEDS WINDOWS to remain on top as running it on linux and OSX won't be enough, Windows DOESN'T need Mozilla

 

[ahriman]

This is a very bad move by FF.
I've used FF as my main browser for years, now I'm not sure I want to continue with it.
But which browser go to? IE???

 

[AlexT2889]

If I was Microsoft, I would just abandon the entire European continent, I make enough money already in Asia/America/Australia. Just to piss off the stupid European Union and their retarded "Socialist" ideas that force everyone to "make the playing field equal for everyone".