In a move that will surely confuse rather than help most Windows users', Microsoft has rolled out it's browser ballot screen at the behest of the EC. This brings an end to a long standing dispute between Microsoft and developers of other web browsers who feel that Microsoft was abusing it's market leading position with the Windows platform by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows.

From yesterday anyone using Internet Explorer as their default browser, who updated their Windows machine would have been greeted with a message asking them if they would like to choose a different browser. With IE still dominating the browser market, it is likely that many millions of people in the EU will be greeted with this pop up screen.

When the popup presents it's self it will tell users that there's "An important choice to make: your browser". When the user clicks "OK" the screen will change so that twelve browsers are shown to the user. The most popular browsers, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and IE will be presented at random on the first screen while the other browsers in the ballot, Green Browser, Maxthon, Avant, Flock, K-Melon, Slim and Sleipnir will be shown at random on the next screen. Each of the browsers will have a button that will provde more information about the browser when the suer clicks the button and one to install the browser. When the browser is installed it will automatically become the default browser and will append it's self to the users Start Menu.

With twelve browser choices the move will surely confuse and in some cases anger many people who aren't that tech savvy. Many will probably end up blaming Microsoft even though it's others that have brought about these changes. Some might even see the pop up as a threat to their system as they may think their computer has been taken over by a virus. It is not yet clear if this solution will do anything to entice users away from Internet Explorer and have an impact on it's market share.

Source and Images: Microsoft Blog