Microsoft Developer on Ulitzer

The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), the group of Microsoft foes that has been hounding the company for years with complaints to the European Commission, and Opera, one of its members, are griping that the proposed ballot screen solution to the EC's charge that Microsoft's bundling of its IE browser in Windows violates antitrust law, a claim based on a complaint that Opera initiated, is too complicated for the poor dumb user to master.

Bear in mind that the ballot screen, which would give consumers a choice of five downloadable default browsers when they first go to use Windows on a new PC, or delivered the choice to current XP and Vista users through Windows Update, was an idea that the EC and Opera initially favored and that, if accepted, would wrap up - at least theoretically - the EC's prolonged and costly $2.5 billion antitrust investigation of Redmond.

EC antitrust chief Neelie Kroes has said she wants the Microsoft issue put to bed before she is replaced on Halloween. Bloomberg thinks she will be asked to stay until the end of the year.

However, according to what ECIS lawyer Thomas Vinje told the Wall Street Journal over the weekend, selecting an alternate browser requires "the user to confirm and answer threatening and confusing warnings and questions. Microsoft has cunningly found a way to accept the Commission's suggestion of a ballot screen, but to do so in a way that will be entirely ineffective."

The non-technical user is being asked to navigate a "discouraging" six messages.

ECIS has reportedly showed the EC a better way of doing it than what Microsoft proposed, substituting a separate C# application for a web page in IE, without any warning screens.

The ECIS said Microsoft claimed it couldn't do what it did on short notice.

Those objecting to Microsoft's scheme don't like the idea that users would have to go through IE, claiming it installs IE as well as another browser.

Mozilla, which has seriously depleted Microsoft's browser market share, also says the scheme needs modification or clarification, but told the Journal it still supports the device. It would like to see users educated on what exactly a browser is.

Google is also complaining.

Of course, users at any time can already install an alternate browser if they want. It's not very hard, even for people who have trouble turning on a light switch.