As part of the settlement, Microsoft will continue to include IE in Windows but give PC makers the ability to install a different default browser. The Choice Screen will pop up the first time consumers use the default browser, allowing them to pick a different one if they prefer.
Microsoft has promised to make the screen available for five years in the European Economic Area and to offer it for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7, according to Europe's antitrust regulators.
"Millions of European consumers will benefit from this decision by having a free choice about which web browser they use," said Kroes. "Such choice will not only serve to improve people's experience of the internet now but also act as an incentive for web browser companies to innovate and offer people better browsers in the future."
After the EU announced the news, Microsoft issued its own statement on the resolution of the long-running, and expensive, antitrust case.
"We are embarking on a path that will require significant change within Microsoft. Nevertheless, we believe that these are important steps that resolve these competition law concerns," Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said in the statement. "This is an important day and a major step forward, and we look forward to building a new foundation for the future in Europe."
The U.S. Justice Department, which waged its own years-long antitrust battle with Microsoft, applauded the outcome of the EU's case.
"As we understand it, the settlement is based on measures to enhance competition and is designed to preserve industry participants' incentives and ability to compete going forward. A settlement that helps to clarify obligations under European law allows the industry to move forward," Christine Varney, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's antitrust division, said in a statement.
Reference article: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20000111-264.html?tag=nl.e776