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Microsoft has never been known for being the friendliest of companies, especially towards those who compete against it.  That does make a bit of sense, competitors usually aren’t all that nice to one another, and Microsoft, having so many products, has a lot of competitors.  But, when being mean to competitors means being mean to the average computer user it can be an issue.  Or, Mozilla and Opera could just like complaining about Microsoft just like everyone else.

Mozilla and Opera, makers of Firefox and Opera browsers respectively, are saying that Microsoft is being anti-competitive in the browser space with the Release Candidate of Windows 7.  The argument lies in the fact that those upgrading from Vista can choose and “Express” option which makes the upgrade easier.  Using this option, Windows 7 not only installs easier, but also replaces the default browser with Internet Explorer 8.  Mozilla and Opera believe this is an example of why Microsoft in the browser space causes problems.  It’s just too much work to open up Firefox of Opera and click the box in the dialog that asks if you want it to be your default browser.

It’s really no surprise that Microsoft would make such a move, from what I remember this happened a lot when using Windows.  Microsoft likes it when you use Internet Explorer, so you can annoy web developers who hate the way the browser works.  Mozilla and Opera come off as just a bit whiney with the complaint.  Most people who prefer Firefox and Opera probably won’t mind having to change the settings once, even if it is and inconvenience.  I know when I’m in Windows I’ll jump through whatever hoops I have to to get to Chrome, or Firefox if that’s not an option.  Either way, IE does have a purpose.  You need it to download the other, better web browsers on clean installs, and then ignore it.

Read [Electronista]