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Microsoft proposes launching an IE-free Windows 7 'E' in Europe

Microsoft is stepping up its campaign to try to appease European Commission (EC) regulators who are mulling possible remedies in the ongoing Opera-Microsoft browser-bundling case in the European Union.
According to News.com, Microsoft’s newest proposal is to offer a version of Windows 7 which strips out Internet Explorer (IE) 8. Not hides it — like is currently possible via a “remove features” capability. The Softies are proposing to sell a separate version, designated Windows 7 E which doesn’t include a browser in it at all.
Sources close to Microsoft confirmed that Microsoft has been notifying PC makers of its intention to field Windows 7 E in the European Union as a way to comply with antitrust regulations there.
Microsoft added the “Remove IE” switch to Windows 7 a few months ago. IE was just one of a number of “removable” features in the Release Candidate build of Windows 7, which Microsoft made available to testers in late April. The full list of user-removable Windows 7 features (in addition to ones that already may be “deselected” in Vista) include:

  •     Windows Media Player
  •     Windows Media Center
  •     Windows DVD Maker
  •     Internet Explorer 8
  •     Windows Search
  •     Handwriting Recognition (through the Tablet PC Components option)
  •     Windows Gadget Platform
  •     Fax and Scan
  •     XPS Viewer and Services (including the Virtual Print Driver)

 

Turning off these features didn’t actually permanently remove them from the operating system. As Microsoft officials acknowledged in a blog posting in March:

For full story courtesy of ZD Net : http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=3028&tag=nl.e589