EU Wants PC Buyers to Pick a Browser?

Microsoft says the European Commission may force consumers to choose which browser they want on new computers before buying them.

Along with choosing a color, size, processor, memory and video card for your new PC, Europeans may soon have to choose which browser they want preinstalled. That’s according to Microsoft in its latest form 10-Q filing with the SEC, which alleges that such a measure is one of several being considering by the European Commission to spur competition with Internet Explorer.

“The Commission is considering ordering Microsoft and OEMs to obligate users to choose a particular browser when setting up a new PC,” Microsoft writes in the filing. “Such a remedy might include a requirement that OEMs distribute multiple browsers on new Windows-based PCs. We may also be required to disable certain unspecified Internet Explorer software code if a user chooses a competing browser.”

Microsoft has historically encountered stiff criticism from the European Commission, including investigating the company in 2007, again in 2008, and slapping it with a $1.35 billion fine, which the company later appealed. The EC’s current interest in the company stems from a complaint filed by the Opera Software company a year ago, alleging that bundling IE with Windows was stifling competition from products such as its own Opera browser.