Windows 7 to ship without IE

JustAddWater

:eek:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8096701.stm

No IE onboard Windows 7 in Europe



European buyers of Windows 7 will have to download and install a web browser for themselves.


....

Practical question? If there's no IE how does one go online to download say firefox or chrome or opera or whatnot lol

I would assume you need to go onto another machine and copy the executable to USB or something lol

cpu-dude

JustAddWater wrote: »

:eek:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8096701.stm

No IE onboard Windows 7 in Europe



European buyers of Windows 7 will have to download and install a web browser for themselves.


....

Practical question? If there's no IE how does one go online to download say firefox or chrome or opera or whatnot lol

I would assume you need to go onto another machine and copy the executable to USB or something lol

Nope, I believe these machines will come with the option to install IE (in Windows 7, you can tick and box to get rid of it).

OEM versions will most likely come up straight away asking to install IE, FF, Chrome, Safari or Opera. It's brilliant.

SickBoy

I was under the impression that Windows Update was heavily dependent on Internet Explorer. Has something changed around this?

cpu-dude

SickBoy wrote: »

I was under the impression that Windows Update was heavily dependent on Internet Explorer. Has something changed around this?

It used to be, XP updates changed that with SP2 and the Security Center came into play. Automatic Updates is now it's own program and service and works extremely well in Windows 7. First time in years I've used them properly.

Capt'n Midnight

"In terms of potential remedies, if the Commission were to find that Microsoft had committed an abuse, the Commission has suggested that consumers should be offered a choice of browser not that Windows should be supplied without a browser at all," said the Commission in a statement responding to Microsoft's announcement.

not exactly rocket science

maybe a tick box where you choose your browser between
IE
IE engine with other front ends - ie. IE in all but name
Something you've never heard of that they get a kickback when you buy


Ideally it would be nice to have the free market leaders on offer
Firefox
IE
Opera
Safari

rabbitinlights

In early 2008, Microsoft was fined 899m euros (£765m) by the European Commission for anti-competitive behaviour over bundling in the media player and browser into Windows.

They are scared.

thealltimelow

firefox all the way then

PaddyTheNth

In the unlikely event of a computer coming from an OEM without a browser installed you can be sure that one of the first things Windows Update will grab is IE.

However what will happen is that MS/Mozilla/Opera etc will have a bidding war with OEMs to get their browser installed.

Also there's an ftp client built into Windows and I'm almost positive all the major browsers are available from the manufacturers' websites via ftp. Anyone building their own machine should be able to grab what they need that way, or they'll have a copy of what they need on a USB drive.

Capt'n Midnight

rabbitinlights wrote: »

They are scared.

No they aren't.

They used to have $50 Bn in the war chest, this stuff is peanuts to them, may even come out of the marketing budget.

It's just the continuation of US government going after them for intergrtating IE4 into windows 98. 11 years and several billion dollars later they are stepping over the line. They have been up in court over anti-competition and IP infringement on a fairly regular basis such that you have to wonder if they aren't getting the message or are just choosing to ignore it and pay the fine when caught and the numerous appeals fail.

Remember before penalty points were introduced here, the fine for speeding was £50. Not much of a disincentive for many.

AlmightyCushion

There is no way in hell an oem will let a pc ship without a browser built in. All they'll do is piss off a shít load of customers.