OK, this is a European story mainly but I do believe it'll be of value to the American readership here (which I assume is the majority). Basically thanks to pressure from the European Union, on Tuesday Microsoft made it clear to all European users that they could choose between web browsers rather than sticking with Internet Explorer.
There have been a few comments. Some people have complained that some of the choices for alternatives are basically re-branded IE as this story from the BBC explains. I was so perplexed at the thought of everyone thinking this was revolutionary that I did the British thing and wrote a letter to the Times, which was published this morning.
(As an aside, I'm amused to find that my point has attracted comments from someone who thinks the move from Microsoft is to simplify things for the over-thirties who won't know about technology - I'm actually 44...)
Take the ageism about it and you find the real point that's made in this little saga, though. I'm certainly guilty, and I bet loads of others are too, of assuming people are a lot more confident and comfortable with technology than they are. Install a browser? Select it as default? I'd have thought that was childsplay but apparently not.
I suspect everyone in tech support needs to bear that in mind as part of their job. I'm certainly going to be looking at my writing more carefully next time I'm assuming any knowledge of tech.