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 |  New York Times -
Nov-07-2009Rivals to Challenge Microsoft Browser Settlement(topic overview)
CONTENTS:
- IDG News Service - Microsoft's antitrust settlement offer to the European Commission needs minor, often cosmetic changes in order to restore fair competition to the market for Internet browsers, said some of the software giant's main rivals Thursday. (More...)
- Microsoft'''s browser rivals aren'''t satisfied with the tentative '''ballot screen''' settlement that the company came to with the European Commission, which would offer all its European users a chance to download a rival browser. (More...)
- It'''s been five years now since Mozilla launched what has become the first really tangible rival to Microsoft'''s web browser, Firefox. (More...)
- Despite all the gains other companies (Google, Facebook) have made, it's still Microsoft's world, according to new statistics from comScore. comScore found that, in terms of time spent on sites, the Redmond-based corporation continues to maintain a huge lead over its competitors. (More...)
- Boriss countered that it would be fairer if the first position -- the browser at the far left of the five that will be shown on the first screen -- was selected randomly each time it was presented to users. (More...)
- In that time, few contenders have been able to gather together even a hint of the required muscle and profile to chip away at Windows''' position. (More...)
- "In particular, we believe that rotating browser placement so that no browser has an advantaged or disadvantaged position, and reducing the many references to IE on the ballot page, are each important improvements." (More...)
- If we weren't already in the middle of an all-out browser war, the introduction of Google Chrome as the preinstalled default on Windows PCs could well set things off. (More...)
- Facebook.com, which continues to see significant growth on a worldwide basis, was the fourth most engaging destination with visitors spending 1.4 billion hours on the site in August, up 193 percent from the previous year. (More...)
- The NYTimes also reported that Mozilla would like to see browser choices displayed randomly, rather than in the proposed alphabetical order. (More...)
- I believe controlling a market, that is having a controlling share is the definition of a monopoly. (More...)
- Well, the next time you hear Mac ads saying that Windows doesn't have cool programs like Mac. you know why. (More...)
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IDG News Service - Microsoft's antitrust settlement offer to the European Commission needs minor, often cosmetic changes in order to restore fair competition to the market for Internet browsers, said some of the software giant's main rivals Thursday. Their concerns about the settlement are echoed by ECIS, a trade group representing Oracle, IBM, Red Hat and others, as well as by consumer organizations following the Microsoft antitrust case. Microsoft has proposed that Windows operating systems should show users a ballot screen inviting them to choose a Web browser from among the most popular ones when they first attempt to access the Internet. [1] Consumer organizations and the company's rivals generally approve of the idea, but believe the way Microsoft's ballot screen is designed is biased and will deter people from replacing Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser with another. They also argue that a review period two years after the settlement would come into force is too long to wait, and they call for regular monitoring of the ballot screen every six months, to make sure it is having the desired effect of encouraging consumers to exercise their free choice. At the beginning of this year the European Commission issued a statement of objections to Microsoft, accusing the company of abusing the dominance of Windows to skew competition in its favor in the Web browser market.[1] Rivals believe that the current ballot screen proposal still gives Internet Explorer an unfair advantage. After a complaint from the makers of the Opera web browser, the European Commission decided in January that Microsoft's inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows constituted an abuse of their dominant market position. In October, the Redmond-based company proposed a so-called browser "ballot screen", which would display a list of the top five browsers to consumers when they boot a new computer for the first time.[2]
Browser makers have until Monday to request changes to the ballot screen Microsoft is producing to resolve antitrust charges in Europe. Opera, the Norwegian company that originally filed a complaint against Microsoft in 2007 for bundling Internet Explorer with Windows, wants the ballot screen to be void of extra Microsoft logos, wants Windows to forgo warning users that they have downloaded third-party software, and wants the EU to survey customer use of the screen more frequently than the proposed two years, The New York Times reports.[3] After months of suggesting that Windows 7 would ship in Europe without Internet Explorer, in response to antitrust concerns from the Commission, Microsoft reversed course in August and proposed an automatic ?ballot screen? that would allow users to select between IE 8 and a competing Web browser. That unilateral move was undertaken despite an inherent risk of rejection by the Commission. It remains to be seen what sort of changes Mozilla, Opera and Google will suggest to the Commission about the ballot screen. In subtext, the three companies seem to want to prevent Microsoft from making an unimpeded deal that could somehow disadvantage them later on.[4] Microsoft and the European Commission may be close to a deal on packaging Internet Explorer 8 with Windows 7, with Redmond agreeing to offer users an automatic "ballot screen" from which they can choose a rival browser. Such an agreement would alleviate the Commission's antitrust concerns, but Google, Opera and Mozilla plan on asking the regulatory body for as-yet-unannounced changes to the agreement.[4]
Displayed within an Internet Explorer window, the screen will list the five most popular browsers in alphabetical order from left to right, giving first spot to Apple's Safari. Jenny Boriss, a Mozilla designer, criticized the display in a post on October 16th, writing, "Windows users presented with the current design will tend to make only two choices: Internet Explorer because they are familiar with it, or Safari because it is the first item." She went on to suggest that the browsers be displayed randomly. Mr. Lie has said Google, Mozilla and Opera will send separate letters to the commission, detailing their requests for changes. European competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, has said she will take Microsoft to court should they fail to agree to a fair settlement. Mrs. Kroes, who is likely to step down at the end of the year, has said she would prefer to settle open cases before leaving.[2]
Complaints about Microsoft's anti-competitive browser bundling are still in full swing, even though the company said in July that it will no longer shield Internet Explorer (IE) from competition in Europe by bundling it with Windows. Three competing browser developers have been working with the European Union's Competition Commission on the investigation into Microsoft's browser practices, and have now said that Microsoft's proposal to offer a ballot system for Windows users to select their default browser from a list is not good enough.[5] "The Commission's concern has been that PC users should have an effective and unbiased choice between Internet Explorer and competing Web browsers," the Commission wrote in an Oct. 7 statement. "The Commission's preliminary view is that Microsoft's commitments would address these competition concerns and is market testing Microsoft's proposal in light of these requirements." In Microsoft's sample mockup of the ballot screen, those rival browsers were given an equal amount of onscreen space alongside IE 8.[4] Three rivals of Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser are seeking last minute changes to a proposal, that would see new users of Windows presented with a ballot screen of the top five browsers.[2] Computerworld - Microsoft's rivals will ask European antitrust regulators to modify the ballot screen designed to give Windows users the chance to ditch Internet Explorer (IE) and choose another browser.[6] In a follow-up blog entry published Monday, Boriss again denigrated the layout, claiming that it gave IE more than three times the space than rivals' browsers because the ballot would be displayed within the frame of Internet Explorer. Opera wants the ballot to be stripped of any Microsoft logo, which would presumably mean that IE could not be used to display the ballot, and a promise that Microsoft would prevent Windows from displaying any warnings, such as Vista's and Windows 7's user account control (UAC) prompts, when people pick an IE alternative to download and install. Other ideas that surfaced previously include a so-called "native" application to show the ballot, a move that would entirely eliminate the need to run IE.[7]
"But we have some issues about the ballot." Most important in Opera's eyes is that the ballot should be displayed outside of IE. Microsoft's plan would create an HTML-based ballot that would appear as a Web page within its own browser. "From the screenshots we've seen, we don't think it's right that the ballot appears within IE," said Lie. In early October, the commission tentatively approved Microsoft's plan, which would offer European users of Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 a Web-based page showing five browsers, then let them select which they would install and run on their PCs. To get that preliminary approval, Microsoft made several changes to its original July proposal.[6] Opera did not respond to a request for further comment Thursday. In early October, the commission tentatively approved Microsoft's plan, which would offer European users of Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 a Web-based page showing five browsers, then let them select which they would install and run on their PCs. To get that preliminary approval, Microsoft made several changes to its original July proposal. Opera and Mozilla have been vocal about their dissatisfaction with Microsoft's original plan, and with the revised concept that has been market tested by regulators for the last month.[7]
According to the article "The New York Times Google, Mozilla and Opera are not fully satisfied with Microsoft's proposed selection window, which assists in the installation of alternative browsers. All the parties sent to the European Commission proposals, which express their objections.[8] Opera Software, which sparked the investigation into Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer (IE), Mozilla and Google will each send separate letters to the European Commission suggesting changes to the proposal put forward by Microsoft last summer, said the newspaper.[7] Opera Software, which sparked the investigation into Microsoft's bundling of IE, Mozilla and Google will each send separate letters to the European Commission suggesting changes to the proposal put forward by Microsoft last summer, according to Hakon Wium Lie, Opera's chief technology officer.[6]
At the time, Mitchell Baker, the chairwoman of the Mozilla Foundation and the former CEO of Mozilla Corp., which produces Firefox, said that if Microsoft's proposal were accepted, IE would "still have a unique and uniquely privileged position on Windows installations." For its part, Opera has also been wary of Microsoft's plan. In July, Lie said Opera would suggest changes to the commission and argued that Microsoft should expand the deal to include all users, not only those in Europe.[7]
The proposed ballot screen would give Windows users in Europe a choice among the five leading Web browsers: Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox and Opera.[3] The EC might be content with Microsoft's browser ballot screen, but that's not stopping Google from getting OEMs to turn away from Internet Explorer on their own. Google already has deals with several OEMs to include their software, of course. They've been shipping Google Desktop on OEM pcs for quite some time now, and their plans to drop Google Chrome on new users have come to fruition as well.[9]
Microsoft's rivals have asked European antitrust regulators to modify the ballot screen that would give Windows users the chance to choose which browser they use in Windows, according to a report by the New York Times.[7] NEW YORK ( TheStreet ) -- Microsoft ( MSFT Quote ) rivals have asked for last-minute changes to a proposed settlement with European regulators, giving buyers of computers preloaded with Windows the ability to choose a default browser other than Internet Explorer, according to The New York Times.[10]
Under E.U. antitrust rules, the settlement offer must be shown to interested third parties, including rivals and consumer groups. Opera, a Norwegian browser maker, Google with its Chrome browser, and Mozilla, maker of Firefox, the closest competitor to Microsoft's Internet Explorer, are all on the point of submitting their formal response to the settlement offer, and all three agree on some small but crucial problems with the Microsoft offer. Kroes said she expects some objections to the latest Microsoft offer from some rivals. "A number of people are never 100 percent satisfied," she told journalists last month. For her the offer is enough. Fearful of appearing troublesome and never satisfied, the companies most affected by the proposed settlement are treading very carefully in their submissions to Kroes and her team of antitrust officials.[1] Microsoft had presented the EU with a proposal that would allow computer users in Europe a choice of browsers other than Internet Explorer. Mozilla would not confirm that it is sending a letter, but the company has been very vocal in the past about its unhappiness with Microsoft's proposal.[11]
Once or if the European Union's Competition Commission approves the ballot screen, Microsoft would deliver it to European computers via Windows Update. After turning down a Microsoft proposal this summer to strip Internet Explorer from Windows altogether, the EU last month started market-testing Microsoft's ballot-screen fix.[3] Microsoft's months of negotiations with the European Commission over incorporating Internet Explorer 8 into Windows 7 seemed to come to a head on Oct. 7, when both Redmond and the European Commission issued statements suggesting that all relevant issues could be settled by the end of 2009. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal at the time, Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said she was "very hopeful" about a resolution during a press conference in Brussels, and that she had spoken with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.[4]
Close to 10 search engines currently exist in Italy. It is true that their market shares are currently far behind Google's, but they should be delighted by the opportunity to increase their market shares if newspaper publishers came up with a worthwhile partnership that compensated the search engine for extra traffic, instead of trying to benefit coercively from Google. Competition in the search market might have been more intense if this same antitrust policy had not, for years, been artificially handicapping a major market player, namely Microsoft. That company's new search engine Bingwhose volume was reported to be up 7% between July and August in the U.S.and Microsoft's pact with Yahoo would doubtless have been agreed earlier. Had its time and resources not been spent addressing antitrust charges from the European Commission, Microsoft would certainly have launched its own search engine sooner, challenging Google more effectively.[12] The fact that the microprocessor price index fell, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by a year-over-year average of about 35% between 2002 and 2007 (the period covered by the European Commission ruling against Intel) did not carry much weight. No surprise that Googlethe leader in Web searches, with its search engine chosen by a great majority of Internet usersis now under attack. Sparked by a complaint from the Italian Federation of Newspaper Publishers, the Mountain View, California-based company is suspected of having abused its "dominant position" in Web searches in Italy, where nearly 90% of market share goes to Google. Italian publishers complain that they are excluded from the Google search engine if they decide not to be part of Google News, which redirects Internet users free of charge to the content placed on line by participating newspapers.[12]
Microsoft'''s browser rivals aren'''t satisfied with the tentative '''ballot screen''' settlement that the company came to with the European Commission, which would offer all its European users a chance to download a rival browser. [13] Opera, Mozilla and Google plan to send separate letters to the European Commission suggesting modifications to the ballot screen design put forth by Microsoft, reports Computerworld.[11]
Google ( GOOG Quote ), which offers the Chrome browser, Mozilla, the creator of Firefox, and Oslo-based Opera have come together to ensure that Microsoft does not unfairly influence the Commission's decision, Opera's Chief Technology Officer Hakon Wium Lie told the Times.[10]
In a blog entry published Monday, Jenny Boriss, a Firefox user experience designer, denigrated the ballot's layout and said that it gave IE more than three times the space than rivals' browsers because the ballot would be displayed within Internet Explorer. Boriss said that her recommendation was her own, not Mozilla's official company line.[6] According to the New York Times, Mozilla doesn'''t like the idea of the top five browsers by market share in Europe would appear in a row alphabetically from left to right. That would put Apple'''s Safari first. Mozilla doesn'''t think that'''s fair on the theory it would give Safari ''' not your first thought for an Internet Explorer substitute ''' an advantage; it wants them to appear randomly.''[13] Says The New York Times, Mozilla is also dissatisfied with the shape selection window browser, because the alternative programs would be shown in the window of Internet Explorer.[8]
At the beginning of October, the Commission welcomed the proposal to Microsoft, so Windows users at the start of the new system was presented to the selection window within Internet Explorer using the user with one click would install an alternative browser.[8] There's no doubt that plenty of excitement has built up around Microsoft with less than two weeks since the launch of Windows 7. As of yet that hasn't translated to better market share numbers for either its operating systems (OS) or its web browser, Internet Explorer.[14] Although the browser received plenty of hype when it launched on October 22, the buzz hasn't yet translated into increased market share. Windows 7's main competitor these days (aside from Windows XP, of course) is the Mac OS X: it actually climbed to a peak of 5.27 per cent of the total market share during that period. According to reports, it seems that as people move away from Windows XP, an increasingly dated OS, they're trying out Apple's Mac products rather than new PCs, putting a significant dent in Microsoft's dreams of reclaiming a market scared off by the foul-tasting Vista.[14] Following the generally very positive press Firefox has received, and its perceived security advantages over Internet Explorer, it has managed to inflict some damage. Half a decade later, a large slice of which Microsoft spent not paying its own product the attention it required, and Internet Explorer still accounts for nearly two thirds of the market. It'''ll be a good few years yet before its market share drops below 50 per cent, and that'''s in a market area where Microsoft was arguably the most vulnerable.[15] Quoting data from research firm, Net Applications, the article reported that Internet Explorer has a 67% share of the global browser market, followed by Firefox with 24%, Apple's ( AAPL Quote ) Safari with 4.4%, Google's Chrome with 3.5%, and Opera with 2%.[10] According to research firm Net Applications, Internet Explorer current has a 67 percent share of the browser market, following by Firefox with 24 percent.[2]
The three companies are concerned about Microsoft's browser ballot screen being displayed within Internet Explorer and the plan to alphabetically display the browser options, the newspaper reported.[10] Microsoft also suggested that it would give equivalent placement on Windows 7's taskbar for Internet Explorer and other browser icons.[4] Although Redmond and the regulatory body seem close to a deal over the integration of Internet Explorer 8 into Windows 7, some of Microsoft's chief rivals will apparently ask the Commission to change some details of the settlement.[4] The European Commission's antitrust proceedings against Microsoft on the issue of Internet Explorer with the Windows operating system increases the resistance of the group of competitors software.[8]
@RTMS: Microsoft has a monopoly position, Google does not. They can bundle Chrome without legal issues, Internet Explorer 8 still IS bundled with Windows 7 though.[9]
Windows Live Messenger led Microsoft's Web properties in capturing 14.5 percent of total time spent online in September worldwide, handily beating Google, Yahoo, Facebook and other sites, according to analysis firm comScore. People spent 36 percent more time on Microsoft sites than they did on sites owned by second-place Google, and 57 percent more time than on Yahoo sites. That's out of an estimated 27 billion hours spent online globally in September (excluding public computers and smartphones), comScore said.[16] Yahoo! Sites ranked as the third most engaging Web property at 1.7 billion hours, followed by Facebook.com at 1.4 billion hours. Facebook's share of attention reached 5.1 percent in September, an increase of 2.9 percentage points from the previous year, as its continued growth in popularity precipitated this surge in share. Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs. A regional analysis of the top global properties in time spent by their visitors revealed different preferences across global markets.[17]
Microsoft Sites held the largest share of time spent among the top worldwide properties in Europe (16.8 percent), Latin America (35.9 percent) and the Middle East - Africa (33.1 percent).[17] Google Sites commanded a strong share of time spent in Latin America (19.4 percent), Middle East - Africa (9.7 percent), Europe (9.6 percent) and North America (9.1 percent).[17]
The study found that Microsoft Sites captured nearly 15 percent of time spent online worldwide in September, making it the most engaging global property, followed by Google Sites and Yahoo! Sites.[17] Microsoft Sites accounted for 14.5 percent of total minutes spent online in September, making it the most engaging global property, with Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger representing nearly 70 percent of time spent on the property during the month.[18]
Nearly 70 percent of the time spent at Microsoft websites was at the U.S. software giant's Windows Live Messenger service, comScore reported.[19]
Now competitors are demanding changes to ensure that Microsoft will have no impact on the choice made by the user - says CTO Opera Software Hakon Wium Lie, quoted by The New York Times. As the diary, Opera requires a neutral windows without the Microsoft logo, and for that of one of the corners of this sort of electoral cards to disappear name and character of one of candidates.[8] "Opera also want Microsoft to prevent Windows from displaying the standard security warnings that occur when users download software from the Internet." They got to be kidding. Do they want MS to disable all security too, why don't they ask to have their engineers make Windows instead. This is pushing it, no matter what the solution they don't seem satisfied maybe they simply want Windows banned from EU.[2] Opera wants to install a competitive browser with Windows was off the standard warning that appears when the user wants to load software derived from Microsoft.[8]
I have very little doubt that IE's share has been so high so far due to it being bundled in Windows. That's not necessarily a measure of success, though. I don't agree with Microsoft being forced to offer a choice screen, but I also don't like their self-fulfilling prophecy of shoving IE into Windows that gives a lot of companies a convenient excuse not to have their Web resources, internal or external, not being kosher with all browsers.[2] This is some of the best news I have heard in years. Microsoft is good at many things but in the browser market they are way behind yet they continue to try an shove IE down the throats of everyone. Believe it or not many novice PC users don't even know what Chrome is, they just switch on and use whatever is installed (hence IE6 still have such a large market share as it is pre-installed with XP). This can only means good things for the competition and hence advancement of the browser market.[9] I don't see Microsoft as meeting any of the conditions above. They have exclusive control over their own product (Windows) but as a consumer you are not forced in any way to use Windows as your OS or IE as your browser. They are the market leader in the OS and browser world and as such should be held to a standard of not being anti-competetive i.e. not locking out competition.[2] I use firefox, but, since WINDOWS is a MICROSOFT product, they should be allowed to install anything on THEIR operating system that they want to If Apple and the rest don't like it, then create an OS to compete.oh wait, Apple does I wonder if MS "requires" Apple to tell apple OS users that they can download and install IE instead of Safari? LOL. yeah right.[2]
It's not like Google is some penniless start-up who's browser is being crushed by Microsoft. I think it's ridiculous to force MS to remove stuff like IE or WMP. By that same reasoning, Apple should be forced to ship OS X without Quicktime, iTunes, and Safari.[9]
One of the problems is that Microsoft will offer the browser ballot from within IE, which Opera Software argues makes the other browsers look less important.[5] Opera wants the ballot displayed within a specially-designed application, or failing that, in IE's full-screen mode, which would eliminate the frame Microsoft's browser would put around the ballot.[6]
"The proposal on the table could work, but it needs some changes," said Håkon Wium Lie, Opera Software chief technology officer. "We think it's important that the ballot screen is impartial. Therefore, we ask that the ballot screen is not run inside an IE window that has IE logos on it. In an election, you wouldn't accept that one candidate has his logo in the corner of the ballot, and it shouldn't be accepted in the ballot screen either. "Likewise, we don't think voters should be warned against their candidate of choice when they vote.[5] In an interview later in October, Opera's CEO suggested that the ballot screen was a step in the right direction. "It's good for consumers if there's a choice of browsers and they will look at the ballot screen solution," Jon Tetzschner, CEO of Opera, told eWEEK.[4]
Either all OSes must offer a ballot screen for a browser, media player, picture editor, movie player, mail program, contact manager, mindless games option, and every other option, or no one has to. Yes that would be impossible to do. and ornerous on the end user, but lets be fair to these mega companies that work easy for our money.[2] Not to say I told you so, but I did Displaying the ballot screen in IE is promoting their own browser.[2] During that interview, Tetzschner expressed reservations about placing the browser options in alphabetical order on the ballot screen, and gave some hints about what the organization might suggest to the Commission next week.[4] The last requirement proposed asks the commission to survey consumer use of the ballot screen more frequently than after two years in order to encourage competition, according to the report.[10] The rivals will also reportedly push for the EC to survey consumer use of the ballot screen more frequently than two years from now.[13]
Under the agreement, all Windows PCs sold in the European Economic Area for the next five years will contain the proposed ballot screens.[5]
"At the end of the day, that's what we are looking for." Sources have said it's likely that Kroes wants to resolve the dispute with Microsoft before the end of the year, when her term as the commission head expires. An early December date is most likely, those sources have said. That would mean Microsoft would push the ballot to users via Windows Update in February 2010.[7] According to Net Applications, the 2.15 per cent growth of Windows Vista was all but offset by a 1 per cent decline represented by users who abandoned Windows XP and took up non-Windows platforms. The decline of Windows' popularity amongst Internet travellers is fast becoming a concern -- the dip represents Microsoft's ninth loss in this area in the past 12 months. Net Applications is able to monitor the operating systems users employ when they visit its client websites.[14] Mozilla: "Windows users presented with the current design will tend to make only two choices: Internet Explorer because they are familiar with it, or Safari because it is the first item."[2] Not only was Chrome pre-pinned to the Windows 7 taskbar, but a quick look at the internet options on the laptop revealed sad news for Internet Explorer: it had been bumped from default web browsing duties.[9] The combination of Internet Explorer from Windows may impede the free competition.[8]
Handicapping Googleafter having done the same to Microsoftdoes not work in favor either of competition or of Internet users. It is obvious that, if the antitrust authorities forced Google to provide access to its search engine without any benefit in return, publishersand other groups who could one day find themselves in the same boatwould be exempted from examining themselves more closely, and innovating to satisfy consumers better. This would also automatically mean lost business opportunities that Google's competitors could have sought absent authorities' intervention.[12] Italian authorities launched an investigation into Google in September and the search giant now finds itself the target of European antitrust policy, which has become a form of Russian roulette, with a price to be paid by innovative companies and, down the road, by consumers. This is not happening by accident. Based on a static and unrealistic view of competition, European competition rules strike by definition at companies that, by dint of their efforts to innovate, succeed in capturing substantial market shares. It is thus hardly a surprise to see the high-tech sector in the antitrust spotlight. Microsoftafter revolutionizing PC use with Windowsfound itself ordered to pay heavy fines earlier this decade while its business model was hamstrung to the great benefit of its competitors, including Google.[12] By focusing on market share, European antitrust policy ignores the competitive pressures actually exerted on the market. If the Italian publishers have services that truly provide added value to Internet users, and if Google refuses to list them, this obviously presents an opportunity for Google's competitors.[12]
Alphabetic ordering from left to right according to the manufacturer's name gives Apple the most forward-left, while the best position - notes, Jenny Boriss employee of the Mozilla blog. It would be better if browsers were sorted randomly, could also be used here due to the hierarchy of market shares. It is not clear whether the remarks Mrs. Boris influence also with Mozilla's official position to the European Commission.[8] A Mozilla designer criticized the ballot layout for giving preference to Apple's Safari based on the alphabetical ranking by browser maker. "Safari has the smallest market share of the five other browsers," said Jenny Boriss in an Oct. 14 entry on her blog. Later, she edited the blog entry to say that the opinions were her own, and not that of her company.[7]
Last month, Boriss blasted the ballot for giving preference to Apple's Safari based on the alphabetical ranking by browser maker. Initially, she did not spell out that her take was a personal one; the appearance of her blog on the Mozilla site led some, including Computerworld, to assume it was Mozilla's position as well.[6]
It'''s been five years now since Mozilla launched what has become the first really tangible rival to Microsoft'''s web browser, Firefox. [15] "We welcome today's announcement by the European Commission to move forward with formal market testing of Microsoft's proposal relating to Web browser choice in Europe," Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, wrote in an Oct. 7 statement.[4] In October the European Commission adopted a proposal by Microsoft, and intends to carry out tests on the market.[8]
Opera Software initiated the European Commission's (EC's) investigation into Microsoft's practices almost two years ago.[5] Then Opera, whose complaints started the EC'''s bundling investigation despite the fact that IE has been losing share, doesn'''t like the idea that the page bears a Microsoft logo and that its standard warning appears when people go to download non-Microsoft software.''[13]
Opera also raised concerns about Microsoft Windows displaying standard warnings when users download non-Microsoft software.[10] Google declined to comment on whether it wanted further changes to Microsoft's proposals, although reports suggest that the search giant agrees with the points raised by Opera Software.[5] Mozilla, Opera and Google all plan on asking the Commission for last-minute changes, according to a report published in The New York Times.[4] "We hope the commission is open to fixing the remedy," Hakon Wium Lie, Opera's chief technology officer, told the New York Times Wednesday. "It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make sure there is a working market for browsers.[7]
Despite all the gains other companies (Google, Facebook) have made, it's still Microsoft's world, according to new statistics from comScore. comScore found that, in terms of time spent on sites, the Redmond-based corporation continues to maintain a huge lead over its competitors. [20] Google Sites captured 9.3 percent of total minutes (2.5 billion hours), with YouTube accounting for nearly half of total time spent (1.2 billion hours) at the property.[18] People spent 2.5 billion hours on Google sites, 1.2 billion hours of which were spent on YouTube. Facebook was the fastest-growing property, its share of attention jumping 193 percent over September 2008, according to comScore.[16] Windows Live Messenger accounted for nearly 70 percent of the 3.9 billion hours people spent on Microsoft Web properties, the firm said.[16]
Windows Live Messenger is marketing speak for the instant messaging product offered by MS. Counting a user's time spent sending text messages to their friends as time on the web is rather dubious.[16] SAN FRANCISCO — Industry tracker comScore on Friday released a study showing that Internet users in September spent more time at Microsoft websites that at any other online properties.[19] In September 2009, nearly 27 billion hours were spent on the Internet globally by a record online population of 1.2 billion Internet users age 15 and older.[18] Online video-sharing star YouTube accounted for almost half of the 2.5 billion hours people spent at Google websites, according to the study.[19]
That isn't all very fair, if IE/Mircosoft has to give people a choice of browser shouldn't that prohibit Google walking in and just doing the same thing Microsoft has been doing? It seems kinda shady to me. I still prefer Firefox and they haven't even gotten this far yet so kudos to Google.[9] These people have to be the biggest crybabies and sore losers I've ever heard of. Since they can't make a dent in the browser market, they have to bitch and moan to the higher-ups to force Microsoft to alter THEIR OWN PRODUCT? What a joke. In every other field of business, competitors simply adapt and use their skills to overcome the challenges to prove their product is superior.[2]
Isn't it because Microsoft offers the best product available? Why penalise a company for offering good products? If other companies did the same then we would have much more competition. There is a choice out there, it's simply up to the consumer to choose a product what suits them.[2] Faced with another costly and humiliating antitrust ruling against it in Europe, Microsoft last month offered to settle the browser case. Competition commissioner Neelie Kroes welcomed the offer, which was an improvement on an earlier offer submitted in July, saying she was broadly happy with the latest undertakings.[1]
The commission has asked Microsoft's rivals, who still appear to be unhappy with the proposal, to comment on the company's offer by Monday.[2] The accusations came five years after the Commission found Microsoft guilty of monopoly abuse in the markets for media players and workgroup server software, for which the company has been fined over 1 billion euros to date.[1]
According to a recent study by research firm Net Applications, Microsoft's share of the browser market continues to decline. Microsoft's piece of the pie got significantly smaller between October 2008 and October of this year, dropping from 73.64 per cent to just 64.64 per cent.[14] Frankly, the web browser has become a standard element of the operating system, just as basic as a program manager or terminal. I'm imagining them arguing about how Microsoft unfairly promotes explorer.exe by requiring them to use it to navigate to wherever Total Commander is downloaded.[2] But Microsoft never had to remove IE or WMP according to EU regulations. All they had to do is deliver the operating system as an operation system, not as a software package. By doing that they are breaking two important laws: tax and the prohibition of commercial tying.[9] MS was going to offer a version of win7 without IE in the EU, but it seems that even that hurts the browser market.[2] IMO the EU should at the most ask that the ballot box not be shown in a IE window. That's it.[2] No what the EU should do is stop catering to whiners and giving anyone that can't make a decent product(i.e. Opera) a way to punish the market leader for being successful. (IE killed Netscape before it was bundled with Windows 95.)[2]
It really hasn't come as much of a surprise that those who opposed Microsoft at the beginning and enjoyed success want more and are now acting in an unreasonable manner to jack themselves into the prominent position. I'm hoping that the EU will make a rational decision by ignoring Opera and accepting the listings in alphabetical order, it's the fairest method of doing it from what I can see.[2]
Oslo-based Opera believes that the ballot should be displayed on a screen that does not contain the Microsoft logo. "It would be like having an election ballot where the name or logo of one candidate is displayed separately, prominently up in the corner of the ballot," said Mr. Lie, chief technology officer at Opera.[2] No but seriously I think opera should start to get a life, or change their company name to AAOpera. This way they would be first on the ballot screen.[2]
Mozilla, which has also criticized Microsoft's ballot screen, has made a similar suggestion.[6] Mozilla, the creators of Firefox, are concerned about the ballot screen's design.[2] In August, for example, Mozilla executives cited several concerns about the ballot screen.[7]
The browser ballot screen should not be displayed in HTML, it should be a stand-alone app that can be run with NO browser installed on the system.[2] The ballot screen was the EU's preferred option. The EU formally asked Oct. 9 for feedback on the ballot screen and set a deadline of this coming Monday.[3]
"If accepted, the choice screen would be distributed to users within two months from our decision," Neelie Kroes, the EU competition commissioner, said last month.[3] "We don't know how the commission's proceeding will evolve," William Echikson, a Google spokesman based in Brussels, said early Thursday in a telephone interview with Computerworld. "But we continue to believe that more competition in this space will mean greater innovation on the Web and a better user experience."[7]
An antitrust backlash is hitting Google, after it supported the European Commission's action against Microsoft.[12] "We also welcome the opportunity to take the next step in the process regarding our proposal to promote interoperability with a broad range of our products." The Commission had wanted other IT firms to have access to technical specifications that would allow them to build products that worked well with Microsoft products, and to have that access offered at royalty rates "based on the inherent value of the technology disclosed." Microsoft has claimed that it will implement this in full.[4] Installing other company's products shouldn't be required of Microsoft. It's like McDonald's having to sell Burger King Whoppers or Jumbo Jacks when someone comes in for a burger.[3]
The way the post words it, it sounds like IE is still installed, Chrome is just default. That isn't forcing your browsing habits. It encourages diversity, since Microsoft sure didn't/doesn't have 2 browsers installed on PCs where IE is default.[9] The proposed "fix" by Microsoft to yank out IE sounds fair. PC manufacturers can then install the browser of their choice, or not at all.[3] "In general, we're very happy with Microsoft's proposal because it gives consumers a choice of a better browser," said Lie today.[6] "We support that, too," said Lie today when asked what Opera thought of Boriss' call to randomize the order of the browser choices. "Alphabetizing would just lead to opportunistic naming," he said.[6]
Look at how negatively people react to Apple's simple little Mac vs. PC commercials Do you think people will have the patience to deal with Opera's snivelling little crying game over a damn browser? I doubt it. Most people don't even care what they use. Those that do certainly don't want to be involved with a company that has no backbone. Let's not forget about Symantec and McAfee and their glorious quest to have PatchGuard made less capable because they're too lazy to write proper code.[2] No the Gov'ts only care when Opera, Apple, Mozilla, start crying about how unfair thier life is. Honestly I am sick and tired of hearing about this browser ballot/war crap. Opera has its uses, mostly dust collection for me.[2]
Who's getting tired of Opera's crying? Can't they see that this is putting them in a bad light. I am glad I do not use their browser.[2] Screw you Opera, just because hardly anyone wants to use your rubbish browser.[2]
Boriss countered that it would be fairer if the first position -- the browser at the far left of the five that will be shown on the first screen -- was selected randomly each time it was presented to users. [7] I'm still waiting for someone to explain how it's somehow bad for a 'market' for Microsoft to follow standard operating procedure and include a 'default' browser (something every single OS available today does) that doesn't even cost the consumer money in the first place.[2]
Microsoft losing market cap & cutting jobs Apple is catching up to the size of Microsofts market cap, because for the past few long horn years they have been losing money year after year, while this year Apple reports record returns suggesting that OS X is the real growth area. 800 jobs have been cut from Microsoft so far. No matter how many Zunes, MS Keyboards and mice and windows CE they try to flog, they are losing ground to Apple.[15] Macs are fantastically easy to use and should be the first choice for the non-expert not on an administered network, but the tools arent anything like as detailed. Its Windows race to lose in the corporate/education markets and even when it does get surpassed, there will be Windows boxes around for years after that. Just look at how many companies still have Sun SPARCs on the Desktop in their Engineering offices.[15] In the enterprise Windows is unlikely to topple any time in the next fifteen years due to the number of legacy applications that depend upon it in addition to current software. Its like the pundits talking about the death of Sun and Solaris yet SPARC boxes are still selling and in Revenue per box Sun is top of the list of Server Maker.[15]
However you weigh up the market share of Windows, the simple truth remains that it was, is and will be for a long time the most dominant operating system on the planet. That'''s been the case for a generation now, cemented by the positive response that Windows 7 has just enjoyed.[15] Yahoo! Sites captured the largest share of time in North America with 11.2 percent share, while also attracting a notable 7.9-percent share of time spent in the Asia Pacific region.[17] Yahoo! commanded the largest share of online time in North America and attracted a "notable" 7.9-percent share of the hours spent on the Internet that month in the Asia Pacific region, according to comScore.[19] China's Tencent Inc. captured the largest share of visitors' time in Asia Pacific with a 10.7-percent share, but had negligible engagement in other worldwide regions. Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.[17]
Google websites was ranked second overall, accounting for 9.3 percent of people's Internet time, followed by Yahoo! and Facebook with 6.3 and 5.1 percent respectively.[19] "The Internet continues to be a dynamic and growing environment around the world with the global online population climbing more than 20 percent in the last year," said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. "With the U.S. economy only now emerging from a recession, many multinational corporations have shifted the focus of their growth strategies towards developing markets and the Internet represents an important aspect of those strategies. Understanding the global Internet landscape is the first step towards executing effective marketing strategies in these growing markets."[17] Microsoft websites accounted for 14.5 percent of minutes spent online worldwide in September, making it "the most engaging global property," comScore reported.[19] Websites owned by China-based Tencent Inc. were the most popular properties in the Asia Pacific region, accounting for 10.7 percent of the time spent online there but almost none anywhere else, the tracking agency reported.[19]
From time to time, we will send you e-mail announcements on new features and special offers from The Wall Street Journal Online.[12] The newsletter contains links to our latest IT news, product reviews, features and how-to guides, plus special offers and competitions.[15]
In that time, few contenders have been able to gather together even a hint of the required muscle and profile to chip away at Windows''' position. On the whole, Microsoft has effortlessly ''' with the exception of Linux and MacOS ''' batted away its competition. That'''s not to say it'''s utterly invulnerable. [15] The Microsoft proposals gained EC approval early last month, which was thought at the time to signal that the investigation was drawing to a close.[5] Mozilla has put forward additional changes that it believes should be made to Microsoft's current proposals.[5] Simon Brew makes some valid points, such as the Microsoft grip on education followed by the reluctance of people to change, fuelled either by torpor or "the devil you know" effect. Another key point not made is the fact that most computers are sold with a version of Windows already installed, thus giving an unfair advantage to Microsoft and, again, inducing more torpor.[15] As Windows 7 sails successfully in the world, is Microsoft'''s operating system set to dominant the market for decades to come? We take a look.[15] Microsoft has dominated the operating system market now for the best part of two decades, and it'''s been fully cemented since the days of Windows 95.[15]
I got tired of IE being full of flaws, a registry that just kept getting corrupted and calling Microsoft to get new keys because I had to reinstall the operating system because my system was hacked.[15] Would you rather Google track your surfing with Chrome, or Microsoft track your surfing with IE? I personally would prefer Google/Chrome.[9] Google barely logged more growth than Microsoft (48 percent versus 44 percent).[20] Apple's Safari has 4.4 percent, Google's Chrome 3.5 percent and Opera just 2 percent.[2]
I think this is some kind of weird reverse conspiracy to get more people to switch IE. Mozilla and Opera are demanding things that are just ridiculous and they're starting to irritate their own users now.[2] Actually in some european countries Opera has a higher marketshare than IE Good luck next time.[2]
A ballot screen with no IE at all. Or with no IE picture and the text about IE is white on white.[2] Actually, this whole thing will probably go like this. As long as there is no ballot screen agreement between those whiners, MS will continue to sell their OS without ballot, just as it is.[2]
"In particular, we believe that rotating browser placement so that no browser has an advantaged or disadvantaged position, and reducing the many references to IE on the ballot page, are each important improvements." [5] IE was developed for the Apple platform from '96 to '03, and was the default browser on MacOS and OS X for the final five years of development.[2]
If we weren't already in the middle of an all-out browser war, the introduction of Google Chrome as the preinstalled default on Windows PCs could well set things off. [9] The internet appliance powered by Google ChromeOS could be the thing that slowly displaces Windows.[15] Established in 2001 and read by over 250,000 users world-wide, infopackets features the latest in headline news based on MS Windows, Internet, and technology trends.[14] There are so many options available to us as PC users, whether you use Windows or not, I can't see how anyone can honestly claim that MS is a monopoly.[2]
"And if users are provided with a choice of ballots, I think that's very good. That's what we had hoped for. There are elements in this that we think could have been done better, but we'll communicate that to the commission instead."[4]
Google, which makes the Chrome browser, declined to confirm that it is sending a letter to the commission.[7] Forcing the hand of a business partner has nothing to do with free competition. Italian publishers want to promote their own content on the Internet and attract advertising. Accordingly, they are in direct competition with Google. They wish to benefitgiving nothing in returnfrom the possibility of the extra traffic that Google's search engine provides. They want to have their cake and eat it too. If they don't manage to get in on the market, it should not be the role of the public authorities to provide it for them.[12]
Facebook.com, which continues to see significant growth on a worldwide basis, was the fourth most engaging destination with visitors spending 1.4 billion hours on the site in August, up 193 percent from the previous year. [17] Opera also does not like that, according to the original plans for the impact of a box would be analyzed only after two years as a result of user surveys.[8] I'm just about sick of this. EU should stop treating people like idiots and as if they can't download another browser should they so wish.[2] Like I said on the forum topic about this. Its a special privilage for Market leaders to make consessions to its less capable competitors. Its simple, Apple is not a market leader so they still have complete control over their products. When you become a marketleader everyone of their competitors have the right to complain and if your complaining to the EU you typically get your way.[2]
The NYTimes also reported that Mozilla would like to see browser choices displayed randomly, rather than in the proposed alphabetical order. [3] Mozilla have managed to gain a substantial portion of the browser market,so it MUST be that your software sucks.[2]
I believe controlling a market, that is having a controlling share is the definition of a monopoly. Don't forgot that MS has a history of abusing that controlling share to penetrate other markets, such as the online search, indirectly via the browser market. [2] In order to access our Web site, your Web browser must accept cookies from NYTimes.com. More information.[21]
Well, the next time you hear Mac ads saying that Windows doesn't have cool programs like Mac. you know why. [2]
SOURCES
1. Microsoft rivals, consumer groups want browser offer changed
2. Rivals challenge Microsoft browser settlement
3. Browser cos. requesting changes to Europe ballot screen
4. Microsoft Will Be Challenged By Google, Opera, Mozilla on EU Settlement
5. Europe's browser wars heat up again - V3.co.uk - formerly vnunet.com
6. Update: Browser makers question Microsoft-EU ballot plan
7. Report: Browser makers contest Microsoft browser ballot deal
8. Proceedings of the EU on Internet Explorer: competitors Microsoft's demand changes in the selection of browser window » IT - Chuiko | Information Technology News
9. Game on, Microsoft: Google Chrome shipping as default browser on some PCs
10. Microsoft Rivals Seek Changes to European Browser Settlement | Internet | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com
11. Microsoft Rivals Question Microsoft-EU Ballot Plan | Governance | ITBusinessEdge.com
12. Antitrust al Dente for Google in Europe - WSJ.com
13. Browser Underdogs Want Ballot Screen Changes | Search Journal
14. Win7 has Yet to Boost Browser, Market Share for MS / Infopackets.com
15. IT PRO | Will Windows ever be toppled?
16. Microsoft tops Google, Yahoo, Facebook in worldwide Web use
17. Microsoft Sites Captures Largest Share of Time Spent Online Worldwide
18. LiveSide.net
19. AFP: Microsoft websites top spots in September: comScore
20. "Time Spent Online" Report Puts Microsoft Way Ahead | WebProNews
21. The New York Times > Log In
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