Welcome guest. Before posting on our computer help forum, you must register. Click here it's easy and free.

Author Topic: MS to offer browser options in Europe.  (Read 38729 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Dusty

    Topic Starter


    Egghead

  • I could if she would, but she won't so I don't.
  • Thanked: 75
  • Experience: Beginner
  • OS: Windows XP
One good deed is worth more than a year of good intentions.

rthompson80819



    Specialist

    Thanked: 94
  • Experience: Experienced
  • OS: Windows 7
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2010, 03:53:39 PM »
It really bothers me how many millions of dollars, pounds, euros, etc. have been wasted on this non-issue.  MS is being forced to offer a choice of five browsers in Europe.

I've already got all five browsers, and it had nothing to do with government intervention.

I would be willing to bet that a high percentage of people on this forum also have all five.

BC_Programmer


    Mastermind
  • Typing is no substitute for thinking.
  • Thanked: 1140
    • Yes
    • Yes
    • BC-Programming.com
  • Certifications: List
  • Computer: Specs
  • Experience: Beginner
  • OS: Windows 11
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2010, 05:11:12 PM »
It really bothers me how many millions of dollars, pounds, euros, etc. have been wasted on this non-issue.  MS is being forced to offer a choice of five browsers in Europe.

I've already got all five browsers, and it had nothing to do with government intervention.

I would be willing to bet that a high percentage of people on this forum also have all five.

It would have been better if MS just removed IE. there. done.

of course, then users would need to get a browser installed before they can- download a browser, but, hey, if europe doesn't want Internet Explorer, too bad. They should have to workaround the lack of a built in browser themselves, not litigate MS to include all the browsers in the OS install. If a country feels that MS shouldn't include notepad, for whatever reason, why should MS do anything but simply create a version for that country without notepad? In this case the EU managed to bully MS into including all major browsers in the OS, as well as the choice of which one to use during installation. This is equivalent to asking MS to remove notepad, and then telling them they need to provide a set of choices during installation of which other popular text editor to use. It's a giant load of crap, basically. Honestly IE is my last choice for browser ATM but it still serves the all-important purpose of allowing one to actually download the alternate browser. If MS is supposed to remove IE to distribute windows in the EU- that's fine. but it should be the EU's problem, not Microsofts, to distribute these "alternative browsers" to users.
I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

Helpmeh



    Guru

  • Roar.
  • Thanked: 123
    • Yes
    • Yes
  • Computer: Specs
  • Experience: Familiar
  • OS: Windows 8
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2010, 05:13:37 PM »
Well on the news today, the british pm was called one of the world's biggest bullies. (Not exact wording, I really didn't watch much)
Where's MagicSpeed?
Quote from: 'matt'
He's playing a game called IRL. Great graphics, *censored* gameplay.

patio

  • Moderator


  • Genius
  • Maud' Dib
  • Thanked: 1769
    • Yes
  • Experience: Beginner
  • OS: Windows 7
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #4 on: February 23, 2010, 07:41:43 AM »
What does this have to do with IE ? ?
" Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

James1431997



    Beginner

    Thanked: 2
    • Yes
  • Experience: Experienced
  • OS: Windows 8
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #5 on: February 23, 2010, 11:18:14 AM »
Well on the news today, the british pm was called one of the world's biggest bullies. (Not exact wording, I really didn't watch much)
Pah. Thats most likely pathetic lies spread by the opposition and Labour back benchers who want Brown out. We're coming up to an election , and Gordon Brown has just managed to cling on to his position. Also, I think this was necessary, as most computer users in the UK don't know there are other browsers. And IE is hardly the safest browser, as even Microsoft admit it leaves your PC vulnerable to hackers.

I may be 12, but that doesn't mean I don't have an opinion on these things...



evilfantasy

  • Malware Removal Specialist


  • Genius
  • Calm like a bomb
  • Thanked: 493
  • Experience: Experienced
  • OS: Windows 11
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #6 on: February 23, 2010, 12:26:25 PM »
Drum Roll....

http://www.browserchoice.eu/BrowserChoice/browserchoice_en.htm

Quote
BrowserChoice.eu is a new website from Microsoft designed in accordance with a competition law decision issued by the European Commission.

Source...

soybean



    Genius
  • The first soybean ever to learn the computer.
  • Thanked: 469
  • Computer: Specs
  • Experience: Experienced
  • OS: Windows 10
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #7 on: February 23, 2010, 12:30:49 PM »
Pah. Thats most likely pathetic lies spread by the opposition and Labour back benchers who want Brown out. We're coming up to an election , and Gordon Brown has just managed to cling on to his position.
Do you consider yourself a typical 12-year old?  ;)

James1431997



    Beginner

    Thanked: 2
    • Yes
  • Experience: Experienced
  • OS: Windows 8
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #8 on: February 23, 2010, 01:48:35 PM »
Do you consider yourself a typical 12-year old?  ;)
Absolutely not. ;)
And yes, I'd prefer not be a Facebok Slut.



BC_Programmer


    Mastermind
  • Typing is no substitute for thinking.
  • Thanked: 1140
    • Yes
    • Yes
    • BC-Programming.com
  • Certifications: List
  • Computer: Specs
  • Experience: Beginner
  • OS: Windows 11
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #9 on: February 23, 2010, 02:14:03 PM »
Absolutely not. ;)
And yes, I'd prefer not be a Facebok Slut.
FaceBok: the shoes for your face.  :P

Anyway, back on topic (somewhat) I find it interesting how all numbers of people can state that "IE is insecure" and yet they cannot name a single security bug that can be exploited. Instead they post links to Anti-MS sites that provide charts and so forth about bug ratios, which is even more interesting since the actual Bug counts and bug reports that MS receives are only announced when they are patched. Some of the other Browsers issue "advisories" about such bugs before they are fixed I mean, sure, now everybody knows about the bug, but then again, now everybody knows about the bug- that means people can exploit it before it is patched.

People say that the MS policy of only announcing the security bugs in detail after they are patched is "bad" but they forget that announcing such bugs before they are fixed means that anybody can exploit them before they are patched.

Another "statistic" that people like to throw up is the bug-fixing ratio between the browsers- often IE is touted as having the most problems based on the fact that they fix the most bugs, which seems a tad skewed, on account of the fact that the metric is measuring the number of bugs that were fixed. essentially, that means that netscape is the most secure browser, since it hasn't had a single bug-fix in years! The fact is that the number of bugs fixed does not correspond to the number of bugs present, and even those charts that compare the number of fixed bugs don't weigh the importance of those bugs, and really provide no data on what the bugs were. Does the PNG rendering bug in IE6 get counted? Why? It has nothing to do with security! So the real problem is people trusting their sources to not do such things, while at the same time using Anti-MS and Anti-IE sites as a source, under the mistaken belief that such sources might not skew the numbers to be even more against IE, or, in some cases, IE actually can come out on top, so they choose some other metric.

"Metric" is the problem here. you cannot measure anything by a simple metric, or by even a combination of metrics. it's like trying to judge a persons character simply by their favourite TV show or the number of addition questions they can answer in an hour. They are just numbers and they are only meaningful if they are relevant. In this case those two values have absolutely nothing to do with a persons character, just as the various metrics used to measure browsers are completely irrelevant to measuring the browsers against each other.

This brings up another important point, which is why people have this innate need to measure things. I mean, instead of looking at various measurements and benchmarks for browser programs, just try out the *censored* things, as was stated before they don't take up enough space to be relevant and first-hand experience always outweighs even the most weighted measurements. You don't see people doing things like comparing the performance of, say, Fallout 3 versus Call of Duty. Sure, they use the games to measure Video performance (which in some cases is far more relevant a measurement) but you don't have people saying "well, fallout 3 is a little faster I think I'll buy that" basically, you dont choose a game based on performance considerations aside from "can I run it" just as you shouldn't choose a browser based on some weighted, biased chart, but rather on how much YOU like the browser. For example, it wouldn't matter if, say, Firefox was faster then chrome if people liked the "feel" of chrome- and it wouldn't matter if chromes javascript engine was 30 times faster the that of Firefoxes if people liked the feel of firefox. It's yet another meaningless metric that geek wannabe's like to pore over but is simply a redundant value when it comes to real-world use.
I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

James1431997



    Beginner

    Thanked: 2
    • Yes
  • Experience: Experienced
  • OS: Windows 8
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #10 on: February 23, 2010, 02:29:21 PM »
FaceBok: the shoes for your face.  :P
Right...

Anyway, back on topic (somewhat) I find it interesting how all numbers of people can state that "IE is insecure" and yet they cannot name a single security bug that can be exploited.
I suppose. I've never looked into it though. However, the mention of insecurity is enough to scare me off. I suppose the reason I'm so against IE is because I spend my entire life arguing with people who barely know how to switch their computers on about the reasons I use Firefox.
Do you consider yourself a typical 12-year old?  ;)
*censored*. Why don't they let me vote!?!

Meh. Spainish homework ftl.



Geek-9pm


    Mastermind
  • Geek After Dark
  • Thanked: 1026
    • Gekk9pm bnlog
  • Certifications: List
  • Computer: Specs
  • Experience: Expert
  • OS: Windows 10
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #11 on: February 23, 2010, 02:32:42 PM »
What does this have to do with IE ? ?
Everything. Netscape was about to destroy MS. Or at least destroy the MS dream of total control of you web experience.

This is an old issue. If somebody robbed you, you would not want the money back after ten years. Right?

Now look at this face. Is this the face of a rascal?

http://geek9pm.com/pix/Bill-Gates.jpg

patio

  • Moderator


  • Genius
  • Maud' Dib
  • Thanked: 1769
    • Yes
  • Experience: Beginner
  • OS: Windows 7
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #12 on: February 23, 2010, 02:37:56 PM »
Geek you are taking my statement out of context...

Well on the news today, the british pm was called one of the world's biggest bullies. (Not exact wording, I really didn't watch much)
This was Helpmeh's Post....to which i replied:

Quote
What does this have to do with IE ? ?
" Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

evilfantasy

  • Malware Removal Specialist


  • Genius
  • Calm like a bomb
  • Thanked: 493
  • Experience: Experienced
  • OS: Windows 11
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #13 on: February 23, 2010, 02:44:33 PM »

http://geek9pm.com/pix/Bill-Gates.jpg

Honestly I find it hard to believe that anyone found guilty of monopolizing actually feels bad about it. I sure wouldn't. Quite the opposite actually. :P

If it were a hacker they would be an underground hero. Or a Linux guru an Internet sensation.

You know over 90% of Linux programmers are not only paid but WELL paid? They tend to leave that out of open source arguments when going after MS... http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Skill=Linux/Salary

James1431997



    Beginner

    Thanked: 2
    • Yes
  • Experience: Experienced
  • OS: Windows 8
Re: MS to offer browser options in Europe.
« Reply #14 on: February 23, 2010, 03:08:45 PM »
Geek you are taking my statement out of context...
This was Helpmeh's Post....to which i replied:
Hey. Leave off our Prime Minister  >:(