Windows 7 will allow users to disable Internet Explorer

Sunday, March 8, 2009

After discovery by a blogger, Microsoft has announced that on their next operating system, Windows 7, users will have the ability to remove Internet Explorer and other select Microsoft programs. Microsoft has been accused of forcing users to run their own software while competitor products get pushed out of the market because of this.

On the Microsoft blog they wrote "In Windows 7 we are expanding the number of features you have control over in this regard, giving customers more control, flexibility and choice in managing the features available in this version of Windows." It goes on to list a number of common Microsoft add-ons including: Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player and Microsoft Search. If a user chooses to turn off a feature in Windows 7, it will remove the executable from the user’s computer but the rest of the program will still be installed.

In Europe, Microsoft was charged for abusing the market by having Internet Explorer and Windows bundled together. According to Net Applications, Internet Explorer currently has 67% of the web browser market, with Firefox trailing a distant second with 21% of the market.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!

Sources

Iain Thomson. "Windows 7 may allow Internet Explorer removal" — vnunet, March 7, 2009
Jane McEntegart. "Windows 7 May Allow Disabling of Internet Explorer" — Tom's Hardware, March 7, 2009
Microsoft. "Beta to RC Changes – Turning Windows Features On or Off" — Microsoft, March 7, 2009
"Browser market share" — Net Applications, February 2009

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.