In Europe 100M users will choose their browsers

The Windows update that enables European users to choose a non-Internet Explorer (IE) free web browser (among 11 free alternatives) should be making its way to computers now. This is the end result of a very long legal row between European regulators and Microsoft, who was accused of inserting its web browser in an “unfair” way. After paying close to $2B in fine, Microsoft has agreed to let users choose and this is going to be a very interesting test, because we don’t yet know if users will flee to non-IE options, or if to them IE is simply good enough. According to a recent survey, most of the 100M users aren’t even aware that this is happening.

One thing is certain: IE is pretty much hated by Web Masters because it is known for not implementing web standards the way they should be. As a result, websites creators had to break standard design rules to deal with the multiple difference (or simply bugs) of IE. Microsoft has pledged to make future web browsers better. Let’s hope that’s true. (Image courtesy of theglobeandmail)