 |
Stub
This article is a stub, an article too short to provide more than rudimentary information about a subject. You can help the Microsoft Wiki by expanding it.
|
|---|
BrowserChoice.eu was a website created by Microsoft in March 2010 in the wake of the European Union Microsoft antitrust case decision. The case involved legal proceedings by the European Union against the company and found that by including Internet Explorer with their market-dominant Windows operating system, Microsoft had used this dominance to create a similar market position in the web browser market. This website was created to allow users who had either not made or were unaware of a choice to try other websites.
Microsoft's obligation to display the Browser Choice screen to Windows users expired in December 2014.[1] The website was discontinued as early as the next year, showing a notice advising users to visit the websites of the browser vendors directly. It has since gone completely offline.[2]
Web browser choice screen[]
The choice screen, also known as the ballot box, was displayed in Internet Explorer which offered ten to twelve browsers in random order.[3] The screen was only presented to Windows users whose default web browser was Internet Explorer. It affected the European Economic Area,[4] Croatia, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.[5] A patch was made available via Windows Update to provide the screen to users,[6] and was distributed under the Microsoft Knowledge Base ID number 976002; after the website was discontinued in December 2014, the update was removed from Microsoft Update Catalog.
Browsers listed[]
The browser choice screen listed ten to twelve browsers in random order, with the top tier of five immediately visible and the remaining ones being seen by scrolling the list.
The first group included the five most used browsers - Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, and initially Safari but later Maxthon - representing the four major rendering engines (Trident, Gecko, Blink, WebKit). The second group contained browsers that were not as well-known, also in random order: at different times, this group included but was not limited to Avant Browser, Comodo Dragon, Flock, Maxthon, and SlimBrowser.
Results[]
Competing browsers saw their traffic increase,[7] suggesting that these smaller competing developers were gaining users. However, long-term trends show browsers such as Opera and Firefox losing market share in Europe, calling into question the usefulness of the browser choice screen.[1]
Criticism[]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bright, Peter (December 18, 2014). "Windows Browser Ballot comes to an end as EC obligation expires". Ars Technica. Condé Nast.
- ↑ "Information Regarding Web Browsers". Microsoft. Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
- ↑ Heiner, Dave (February 19, 2010). "The Browser Choice Screen for Europe: What to Expect, When to Expect It". TechNet. Microsoft.
- ↑ Microsoft (December 16, 2009). "Microsoft Statement on European Commission Decision". Press release. Archived from the original on December 17, 2011.
- ↑ "Browser Choice FAQ". Microsoft.
- ↑ "Microsoft liefert Web-Browser-Auswahlfenster ab 17. März aus" (in German). heise online. February 19, 2010.
- ↑ Pfanner, Eric (March 7, 2010). "Microsoft Gives Rival Browsers a Lift". The New York Times.
External links[]
- browserchoice.eu on the Internet Archive (archived 2014-02-20)
- BrowserChoice.eu at Wikipedia