BrowserChoice.eu: Difference between revisions
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[[File:BrowserChoiceB.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Screenshot of browser choice screen after partial use of slider to reveal more possible browsers]] |
[[File:BrowserChoiceB.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Screenshot of browser choice screen after partial use of slider to reveal more possible browsers]] |
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[[File:BrowserChoiceC.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Screenshot of browser choice screen after full use of slider so twelve possible browsers can be seen in all]] |
[[File:BrowserChoiceC.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Screenshot of browser choice screen after full use of slider so twelve possible browsers can be seen in all]] |
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'''BrowserChoice.eu''' is a [[website]] that was created as the result of the [[European Union Microsoft competition case]] which involved legal proceedings by the EU against [[Microsoft]] that, via market dominance of the operating system market with [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Internet Explorer]]'s inclusion with Windows had abused their market dominance by also creating a dominant market position in the [[web browser]] market. The website was created by Microsoft to allow users that had not made, or were unaware of, a choice to try |
'''BrowserChoice.eu''' is a [[website]] that was created as the result of the [[European Union Microsoft competition case]] which involved legal proceedings by the EU against [[Microsoft]] that, via market dominance of the operating system market with [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Internet Explorer]]'s inclusion with Windows had abused their market dominance by also creating a dominant market position in the [[web browser]] market. The website was created by Microsoft to allow users that had not made, or were unaware of, a choice to try other browsers, and thus comply with the [[EU commission]]s' ruling. |
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==Web browser choice screen== |
==Web browser choice screen== |
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The browsers provided to choose from are represented by the four major rendering engines [[Trident (layout engine)|Trident]], [[Gecko (layout engine)|Gecko]], [[WebKit]] and [[Presto (layout engine)|Presto]]. [[Google Chrome]] only uses its own [[JavaScript]] engine, utilising Webkit which is also used by [[Safari (web browser)|Safari]]. The order of the browsers on the page was initially planned to be alphabetical, however after criticism a random system is now used with two groups. The first group, which is fully displayed when the page is loaded, includes the five most used web-browsers: Internet Explorer, [[Mozilla Firefox]], Google Chrome, Safari and [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]]. The second group contains seven less well-known browsers also randomly ordered and is viewed by using the scrollbar shown on the page. |
The browsers provided to choose from are represented by the four major rendering engines [[Trident (layout engine)|Trident]], [[Gecko (layout engine)|Gecko]], [[WebKit]] and [[Presto (layout engine)|Presto]]. [[Google Chrome]] only uses its own [[JavaScript]] engine, utilising Webkit which is also used by [[Safari (web browser)|Safari]]. The order of the browsers on the page was initially planned to be alphabetical, however after criticism a random system is now used with two groups. The first group, which is fully displayed when the page is loaded, includes the five most used web-browsers: Internet Explorer, [[Mozilla Firefox]], Google Chrome, Safari and [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]]. The second group contains seven less well-known browsers also randomly ordered and is viewed by using the scrollbar shown on the page. |
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A patch was made available via [[Windows Update]] to provide the screen to users. It will be displayed to anyone who has not chosen an |
A patch was made available via [[Windows Update]] to provide the screen to users. It will be displayed to anyone who has not chosen an other browser as their default browser.<ref>[http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Microsoft-liefert-Web-Browser-Auswahlfenster-ab-17-Maerz-aus-935566.html Microsoft liefert Web-Browser-Auswahlfenster ab 17. März aus]</ref> |
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==Browsers listed== |
==Browsers listed== |
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The page is also written in non-standard [[HTML]]. The browser is forced into quirks mode by placing a meta tag even before the "html" tag, providing just one of the reasons that it fails HTML validation.<ref>[http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.browserchoice.eu%2FBrowserChoice%2Fbrowserchoice_en.htm&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0 (Invalid) Markup Validation of http://www.browserchoice.eu/BrowserChoice/browserchoice_en.htm - W3C Markup Validator]</ref> |
The page is also written in non-standard [[HTML]]. The browser is forced into quirks mode by placing a meta tag even before the "html" tag, providing just one of the reasons that it fails HTML validation.<ref>[http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.browserchoice.eu%2FBrowserChoice%2Fbrowserchoice_en.htm&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0 (Invalid) Markup Validation of http://www.browserchoice.eu/BrowserChoice/browserchoice_en.htm - W3C Markup Validator]</ref> |
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The choice of browsers has also been criticised.<ref name="bbcLimited">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8545237.stm Microsoft browser ballot criticised for being 'limited' ]</ref> Half of the suggested browsers use the [[Trident (layout engine)|Trident]] (Internet Explorer's) rendering engine, meaning despite users thinking they're not using IE, if they choose one of half of the |
The choice of browsers has also been criticised.<ref name="bbcLimited">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8545237.stm Microsoft browser ballot criticised for being 'limited' ]</ref> Half of the suggested browsers use the [[Trident (layout engine)|Trident]] (Internet Explorer's) rendering engine, meaning despite users thinking they're not using IE, if they choose one of half of the other browsers, they're still using the same rendering engine that IE uses.<ref name="bbcLimited" /> This has resulted in condemnation amongst the web development community, despite Microsoft insisting the list "is based on the 12 most widely used browsers that run on [[Windows 7]] measured by an agreed methodology."<ref name="bbcLimited" /> |
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[[Opera Software]] complained that the ballot screen couldn't be reached in some cases because of the start configuration screens of IE.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/03/windows_ie_browser_ballot_screen/|title=Opera alerts EU to hidden Windows browser-ballot|last=Clarke|first=Gavin|date=3rd April 2010|publisher=[[The Register]]|accessdate=8 April 2010|location=San Francisco}}</ref> |
[[Opera Software]] complained that the ballot screen couldn't be reached in some cases because of the start configuration screens of IE.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/03/windows_ie_browser_ballot_screen/|title=Opera alerts EU to hidden Windows browser-ballot|last=Clarke|first=Gavin|date=3rd April 2010|publisher=[[The Register]]|accessdate=8 April 2010|location=San Francisco}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 16:24, 29 June 2010
BrowserChoice.eu is a website that was created as the result of the European Union Microsoft competition case which involved legal proceedings by the EU against Microsoft that, via market dominance of the operating system market with Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer's inclusion with Windows had abused their market dominance by also creating a dominant market position in the web browser market. The website was created by Microsoft to allow users that had not made, or were unaware of, a choice to try other browsers, and thus comply with the EU commissions' ruling.
Web browser choice screen
The web browser choice screen also known as the web browser ballot box is a screen displayed in Internet Explorer that offers twelve browsers in a random order.[1]
The screen is presented only to Windows users whose default web browser is Internet Explorer. It currently affects only the European Economic Area.[2]
The browsers provided to choose from are represented by the four major rendering engines Trident, Gecko, WebKit and Presto. Google Chrome only uses its own JavaScript engine, utilising Webkit which is also used by Safari. The order of the browsers on the page was initially planned to be alphabetical, however after criticism a random system is now used with two groups. The first group, which is fully displayed when the page is loaded, includes the five most used web-browsers: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera. The second group contains seven less well-known browsers also randomly ordered and is viewed by using the scrollbar shown on the page.
A patch was made available via Windows Update to provide the screen to users. It will be displayed to anyone who has not chosen an other browser as their default browser.[3]
Browsers listed
The browser choice screen lists the following 12 browsers in random order: the top tier of five are displayed and the remaining seven can be seen with a slider.
Second tier
Results
Competing browsers have seen their traffic increase,[4] suggesting that these smaller competing developers are gaining users.
Criticism
The way the page has been written has come under criticism. The random order of the browsers on screen is done via JavaScript; if the user has disabled JavaScript, then Internet Explorer will always come first in the list.[5] In addition, the randomization of the order of the browsers was previously implemented incorrectly, which lead to uneven distribution.[6] This was however altered and is now fixed by Microsoft.[7]
Another coding error on the Polish language version[8] prevents the randomization from working, making the order of the choices fixed with Internet Explorer as the first in the list of choices. Poland has 11 million Internet users.[9].
The page is also written in non-standard HTML. The browser is forced into quirks mode by placing a meta tag even before the "html" tag, providing just one of the reasons that it fails HTML validation.[10]
The choice of browsers has also been criticised.[11] Half of the suggested browsers use the Trident (Internet Explorer's) rendering engine, meaning despite users thinking they're not using IE, if they choose one of half of the other browsers, they're still using the same rendering engine that IE uses.[11] This has resulted in condemnation amongst the web development community, despite Microsoft insisting the list "is based on the 12 most widely used browsers that run on Windows 7 measured by an agreed methodology."[11]
Opera Software complained that the ballot screen couldn't be reached in some cases because of the start configuration screens of IE.[12]
Petition
The second-tier browsers: Flock, Avant, GreenBrowser, Maxthon, Sleipnir, and Slim have sent a petition to the EU to get Microsoft to add text or a graphic indicating that there are more than five browsers.[13]Microsoft has responded by stating: "We (Microsoft) do not plan on making any changes at this time."[14]
References
- ^ http://microsoftontheissues.com/cs/blogs/mscorp/archive/2010/02/19/the-browser-choice-screen-for-europe-what-to-expect-when-to-expect-it.aspx
- ^ http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2009/dec09/12-16Statement.mspx
- ^ Microsoft liefert Web-Browser-Auswahlfenster ab 17. März aus
- ^ Eric Pfanner (8 March 2010). "Microsoft Gives Rival Browsers a Lift". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ How Random Is Microsoft’s Random Browser Choice Screen In Europe?
- ^ Coding error leads to uneven EU browser ballot distribution
- ^ Microsoft rejiggers EU browser ballot after complaints
- ^ Polish language version
- ^ Internet World Stats - Poland
- ^ (Invalid) Markup Validation of http://www.browserchoice.eu/BrowserChoice/browserchoice_en.htm - W3C Markup Validator
- ^ a b c Microsoft browser ballot criticised for being 'limited'
- ^ Clarke, Gavin (3rd April 2010). "Opera alerts EU to hidden Windows browser-ballot". San Francisco: The Register. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Petition To The European Commission
- ^ Minor browsers seek more prominence in Europe
