12/13/2007, 8:45am, EST
Thursday, December 13thOpera files EU complant against Microsoft
Browser developer Opera today announced that it has filed a formal complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission. Along with unnamed industry supporters, Opera has alleged that the Windows developer continues to abuse its monopoly in operating systems by tying Internet Explorer to Windows as well as consciously ignoring calls for the browser to use certain widespread web standards. The complaint would have Microsoft unbundle Internet Explorer from Windows and force the Redmond, Washington-based firm to render sites according to common web practices, ensuring that pages have a consistent look regardless of the browser.
Both of Microsoft's current policies not only reduce the perceived level of choice for customers but 'stifle' standards by forcing developers to spend extra time and money to support Internet Explorer, even when it means reducing features to support legacy code and exposing users to security risks, Opera says.
"Absent Microsoft’s abuse, Microsoft would have been forced to compete on a level playing field with Opera and other browsers," the company explains. "Instead of innovating, Microsoft has locked consumers to its own browser and only recently begun to offer some of the innovative features that other browsers have offered for years."
The browser maker used the recent Windows Media Player decision against Microsoft to justify its case, noting that Internet Explorer has "even more profound effects" on the choice of end users but has yet to be challenged by European officials.
Neither the European Commission nor Microsoft has yet commented on the accusation.
Filed under: industry
Other story tags: Microsoft, Windows, Opera, Internet Explorer
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And I love the complaint of tying the browser to the OS. Seems there's a company from Cupertino that has done the exact same thing.
But complaining about following web standards? Which web standards? Because no one follows ALL the web standards...
That's a timely comment after Bill's little RANT the other day.....ROFLMAO.
http://www.switched.com/2007/12/10/peeved-bill-gates-says-everyone-copies-microsoft/?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Not quite the same - the Safari browser is INCLUDED (closer to Windows 95 including IE 3) not INTEGRATED as part of the OS. You can easily completely remove Safari from a Mac, the same is not true of IE on Windows.
Having said that, it's ironic that Windows users seem to have an easier time defining a default browser and email client than Mac users do.
try running URL for Windows Update (Start / All Programs / Windows Update) on a non MS browser.
Actually, I've done that a number of times successfully on my Windows machine.. You can do most updates through Firefox, however it's not as convenient (it becomes a tedious manual process) because the part that scans your computer for software to update is a proprietary ActiveX control that only runs in IE.
Kindof like Apple's proprietary update software, except MS's will at least update most third party drivers and some third-party software as well.
Somehow, I don't think making life easier for users should be illegal, since there's really no reliable way to make Firefox (or other browser) do this work.
As for... Mac OS X comes with Safari browser, but does not require it for any specific functions. MS i.e. is tied to windows.
Sorry, but you're wrong. They're implemented in nearly the same way. MS uses the IE rendering technology for a lot of their screen displays. This is no different than Apple and WebKit (or did you all forget that WebKit is the backbone behind Safari, as well as for displaying mail, help, and a boatload of other stuff).
And if you try to argue against that, try this one on for size. You CANNOT get OS X 10.4.11 WITHOUT SAFARI v3.0. That's right. Apple has tied an update to their web browser directly to an OS update. We're not talking "You need 10.4.11 to run Safari 3". We're talking "To get 10.4.11, and probably every security fix for OS 10.4 from now on, you are REQUIRED to get Safari v3.0".
How exactly is that not "tying" the two together?
For example, try running URL for Windows Update (Start / All Programs / Windows Update) on a non MS browser. Yes, it's illegally tied into the OS.
OK, try connecting to Apple's software update mechanism without using it's software? Oh wait, you can't! Oh, but that's OK, because Apple did theirs as a stand-alone program, so it's not the same thing, I'm sure.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/12/16/windowsstyle_security_hell_stalks_mac/
that's being integrated, tied to, bound, part of... you get the picture.
sorry, but safari is not that.
You're arguments are lame, at best, and provide me with merriment that gets me through the day. Please continue with your diatribes on a Mac-friendly site. It only proves that you're a troll, and that the only the only thing that makes you sad about posting here is that you can't suck Gates and type at the same time.
IE is part of Windows file-browser, or better said Windows file browser IS Internet Explorer. You can test that by opening any file-browser window in Windows and type www.macnn.com in the Address field and VOILA! the FILE-BROWSER will render the page using IE and not Firefox or any other browser.
The same does not apply to Safari. Yes Safari is a forced download for OSX but it's still a standalone application that can be erased. And yes Safari's rendering is based on WebKit, but that doesn't really matter because having an SDK is not a monopoly.
As far as IE not being Compliant, is an age-old problem. It confuses web-developers and web-design software developers. It's really a nuisance, many believe it's a way to lock the market into using IE.