Microsoft to ship European Windows 7 without a browser; Macs to follow suit?

To abide by European antitrust concerns regarding the shutout of competition in the browser market, it seems Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 operating system is going to ship in Europe without an included browser. This may make folks who dislike Internet Explorer quite happy, but what does this mean for other operating systems?

Like other browsers on the market, Microsoft will have its Internet Explorer 8 browser available for download to European Union consumers. However, this begs the question of how the browsers will initially be distributed to users on even terms. For the most part since browsers are distributed via the Web, without including a browser people will need to take the time to install and set one up.

In addition to downloadable options, Microsoft also plans to include a CD with an installer for Internet Explorer 8 with retail versions of the operating system; however, given that for years people are used to having a browser immediately available in all other major consumer operating systems, this might cause a little confusion. Additionally, if you want Firefox or Safari, you will have to first install Internet Explorer, and then install Firefox or Safari.

This will make it more difficult and cumbersome for Windows 7 users to install a browser of their choosing--especially if it is not included directly as an installable option. Perhaps distributors will include a CD that contains installers for all available browsers. There are plenty of options, but this situation makes us wonder what will happen with Macs in the EU?

Like Microsoft, Apple includes their browser with its operating system, and Safari's preferences are the only location for manually changing certain settings such as the default browser. This creates a similar situation where in order to have certain global system functionality (changing the default browser) you will need to keep Safari installed on your system. Because of the situation with Microsoft, will we see Apple similarly pressured to remove Safari from the Mac OS for European customers?

Read more about this situation in this CNET News article: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10262630-56.html

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