At the beginning of 2009, the European regulators filed a complaint against Microsoft's browser policy, claiming that bundling Internet Explorer with Windows is unfair to developers of third-party web browsers such as Firefox and Opera.
Having had paid enormous fines for similar issues with the EU before, Microsoft took the antitrust charges very seriously, proposing a solution that would enable users to choose between several web browsers before they start using the OS.
It worked. European regulators dropped their antitrust case against Microsoft today. Under the agreement, Microsoft will provide Windows users with a choice of up to 12 browsers that aren't Internet Explorer.
European competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, said “millions of European consumers will benefit from this decision by having a free choice about which web browser they use.”