Microsoft has discontinued the use of the Browser Choice menu for Windows users in Europe, ending a requirement of the company's agreement with the European Commission to offer such a menu.
In a message on its Windows support page this week, the company stated:
"Microsoft provided the Browser Choice update in accordance with a decision issued by the European Commission in December 2009. The obligations imposed by that decision have expired and as a result the Browser Choice Update will no longer be delivered to new users."
That agreement with the European Commission was part of an anti-trust settlement, due to concerns that bundling Internet Explorer with Windows was creating an unfair advantage for Microsoft's browser against other browsers like Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome.
In 2012, the European Commission announced an investigation of Microsoft, claiming that the Browser Choice menu was not available for many Windows users in Europe. Microsoft later admitted that a technical error kept the menu from showing up on many Windows 7 PCs. As a result, the European Commission fined Microsoft $732 million in 2013 for violating the terms of the agreement.
Source: Microsoft, Via: WindowsITPro
