Member Avatar for jglw

Again, Microsoft is being accused of stifiling competition by releasing IE with it's OS. Maybe I'm turning over two pages at once, but wouldn't it more stifiling to not release it? How am I supposed to download an alternate browser if I don't have a browser already?

  • 3 Contributors
  • 4 Replies
  • 100 Views
  • 1 Week Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by MidiMagic
Suspishio commented: Brilliant simplicity. +2

Dani AI

Generated

The EU-Microsoft dispute raises two separate but related points: competition policy (are OS vendors foreclosing competitors?) and practical user access (how does a person actually get an alternate browser?). highlights the practical side, while is worried about the longer-term effects of frequent OS churn, and expresses the usual frustration with regulators. Both practical fixes and policy context matter.

Practical steps for a user stuck with only the preinstalled browser:

  • Use another machine (friend, work PC, library) to download an official installer and transfer it on USB or CD. This is the simplest, safest route.
  • Run a portable browser from USB (PortableApps-style packages) so installation is unnecessary.
  • If comfortable with command-line tools or a local admin, use built-in network clients to fetch an installer, then verify the publisher signature or checksum before running.
    Always download from the vendor site or well-known mirrors, scan the file with up-to-date antivirus, and avoid unofficial builds.

Advice for developers worried about "forced" rewrites:

  • Target documented, public APIs only; avoid private or unsupported hooks that break between releases.
  • Use virtual machines and automation to test new OS releases early.
  • Consider packaging critical components as side-by-side or installable modules so core functionality survives an OS upgrade.

Regulatory context (brief): regulators typically weigh consumer convenience, innovation incentives, and market foreclosure. Remedies can range from documentation and interoperability disclosures to requiring an unbundled product or a choice screen. Those remedies can take years to negotiate, so short-term technical workarounds and good development practices are the pragmatic response while policy evolves.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for Suspishio

Good one!

The European Commission is a bunch of power crazy tossers who are absolutely out of control and tax robbing SOBs to boot.

Member Avatar for MidiMagic

If Microsoft weren't trying to stifle competition, it wouldn't be changing the OS every 3 or 4 years.

These changes make software developers have to start over on the software they sell.

Member Avatar for jglw

More like, keeps them in a job. Zing!

Member Avatar for MidiMagic

And makes consumers pay through the nose just to keep what they already have.

More like, keeps them in a job. Zing!

Make-work is never economically feasible. It is a huge drain on the economy. We are in such a drain right now, because of the forced change to HDTV.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.