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Microsoft and the European Union finally seem to be on the verge of working out their differences, with a new Windows 7 balloting proposal.  (Source: MSDN/Microsoft)
The European Commission and Microsoft appear to finally be on the verge of resolving an antitrust dispute over Windows 7's browser

Microsoft has long packaged its Internet Explorer browser with Windows.  The bundling has given Microsoft's browser a dominant position in the marketplace, despite promising alternatives including Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Google Chrome.  That cozy position could soon change, though, thanks to action by Europe's antitrust watchdog and business regulatory body, the European Commission.

The EC demanded Microsoft offer a ballot selection screen to allow users to pick their browser of choice with Windows 7.  Microsoft at first refused, saying it would not include IE 8 in European copies of Windows 7.  In the end, though, Microsoft came around and agreed to a ballot screen.

The EC had some minor complaints about Microsoft's first proposal -- mainly its lack of information to users about what the browsers were to help them make their selection.  Under the new proposal, which the EC calls much "improved" users could find out information on what a browser is from the ballot screen.  They would also have access to additional information about each browser they could install, to help them make their decision. 

Under the new proposal, the balloting system would work for five years after purchase on any new install.  Windows 7 and all future versions of Windows would implement this scheme.

EC showed Microsoft some love, with a regulator stating, "The commission's concern has been that PC users should have an effective and unbiased choice between Internet Explorer and competing Web browsers to ensure competition on the merits and to allow consumers to benefit from technical development and innovation both on the Web-browser market and on related markets, such as Web-based applications."

Brad Smith, general counsel of Microsoft stated that his company was "pleased by today's decisions."

Microsoft and Europe have had a rocky relationship, with Microsoft fined 899 million euros ($1.35 billion) in 2008 for antitrust violations.  Brad Smith says that situation has greatly turned around, though.  He gave Europe some love back, stating, "It's heartening to see the much better relationship that exists today."

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Meaningless. Web devices are the future.
By reader1 on 10/7/2009 10:27:31 AM , Rating: -1
2010 will introduce web tablets from Microsoft and Apple. Web tablets are closed platforms designed primarily for reading books and obtaining web content. They will do for reading text what PMPs did for listening to music. They will significantly change how people consume web content. Desktop PC sales will also likely drop significantly.

The next logical step is to make a bigger, more powerful device for the desktop with a keyboard and mouse. This will be a closed platform as well. Web content on open platforms will be phased out. Microsoft is already beginning to do this on the Xbox 360 by adding Facebook and Twitter access.

There will be a wide variety of web devices: PMPs, smartphones, tablets, desktops, game consoles, set-top boxes/blu-ray players, TVs, etc. They will all have unique content, tailored for their platform.




By damianrobertjones on 10/7/2009 11:01:22 AM , Rating: 2
UMPC's which are now called mids....
Plenty of tablets on eBay....
Various touch screen laptops....

I know of no other person other than myself that has ever bothered with a UMPC/Mid. I know of no other person who has a touch screen laptop, like the Toshiba M750 etc.

I think my point is obvious.

The Microsoft web tablet will probably have a slightly modified version of Win7. Your last paragraph is already here with the PS3 and 360.


RE: Meaningless. Web devices are the future.
By reader1 on 10/7/09, Rating: -1
RE: Meaningless. Web devices are the future.
By adiposity on 10/7/2009 1:16:46 PM , Rating: 2
Smartphones are just PDAs with a cell link. But yes, they succeed where PDAs mostly fail.

Your second list represents a lot more failures. I'm not so sure the web tablet is the solution in that list that will succeed.

Bottom line, people carry smartphones because they need to carry a phone anyway. But do people need to carry a book/tablet? Not usually.

-Dan


RE: Meaningless. Web devices are the future.
By reader1 on 10/7/09, Rating: 0
By Alexstarfire on 10/8/2009 6:11:44 AM , Rating: 2
I think you are confusing a web tablet with a laptop. Why would I bother to carry around a web tablet indoors when I could very easily just use a far superior PC?

It seems to me that people really just want an all-in-one device. Something that can function as a PC, a phone, an eReader (very similar to the PC part), as a remote control for everything in their house, and can sync with pretty much anything. It's not very hard to figure out that people want as few devices as possible most of the time. Less to carry around means less time messing with stuff, less time wasted. Only problem is I don't see much of it happening yet since carrying around a computer like device is going to be limited. The screen is a big factor much of the time and anything that's going to be worth using, like a full blown laptop, are simply going to be too big to carry around all the time. The only way this will change will be when we find a new display/monitor. Our current ones just aren't advanced enough to make a true portable all-in-one device.

I could see the use of a web tablet for sure, but I really don't see it being any better than a netbook unless the price is something like < $150 for such a device, but I have a hard time believing that will ever happen.


By omnicronx on 10/7/2009 2:45:35 PM , Rating: 2
all hail profit reader!!!!

I find it hilarious that every single thing you wrote has been presented as fact, as though you have already seen it happen.

Are you clairvoyant reader1?? Who is going to win the Super Bowl this year?? Cmon! Throw me a feakin bone here!!..


By afkrotch on 10/8/2009 6:41:51 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Web tablets will succeed where UMPCs/MIDs, Tablet PCs, and touchscreen PCs failed. They'll be as thin as PMPs with slick, intuitive UIs. They will be the biggest advancement in reading technology since the invention of the book.


They'll also be a total piece of crap. They will either be lower performance and high battery life, high performance and have low battery life, or heavy as a brick to have high performance and high battery life.

UMPCs failed, cause a smartphone does what everyone already wants. Easy access to google, myspace, and facebook. Running actual productive apps isn't a requirement.

For actual work, everyone turns to a laptop. A keyboard is a requirement. Tablets failed cause they were underpowered, had bad battery life, and cost more. Not to mention, software that turns your writing into typed text doesn't work well. Software that turns your speech into typed text also doesn't work well. It's expensive too.


By omnicronx on 10/7/2009 1:22:56 PM , Rating: 2
God damn TROLL! Don't you have anything original to say? And don't you get tired writing different paragraphs to describe the same thing? Ever heard of copy paste? Saying it 100 times, in 100 different ways is not going to make it any more true..


By afkrotch on 10/8/2009 6:23:04 AM , Rating: 1
Web devices are totally useless for the US and Europe, where web access fucking blows goats.


"Google fired a shot heard 'round the world, and now a second American company has answered the call to defend the rights of the Chinese people." -- Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.)











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