The Ability to Turn Off Internet Explorer

If you haven't heard yet, Microsoft is going to allow users to "turn off" an expanded set of features in its upcoming Windows 7 operating system. When a feature is turned off, its files are not loaded by the OS and therefore it becomes unavailable for use. This functionality has been a part of Windows for a while now, but the choices have now been expanded significantly. Some notable additions to the list include Windows Media Player, Search, and (surprisingly) the Internet Explorer 8 browser.

The company has been taking a great deal of heat over its practice of tying Internet Explorer into Windows, using what some call an unfair advantage of its dominant position within the OS market. An antitrust statement, filed by the European Commission and given the blessing of several browser competitors including Mozilla and Opera, argued that competition between IE and other browsers is distorted due to its integration with the company's extremely popular operating system. Including the ability to deactivate IE8 in Windows 7 appears to many as a way to appease Microsoft's detractors. However, it may not be enough.

EurActiv.com reported today that the European Commission was not impressed with Microsoft's possible attempt at an antitrust olive branch. According to the article, a Commission source stated that it "wouldn't necessarily resolve the problem." Competing vendors have been pushing for a different approach, one where several browser choices would be presented to the user as part of the Windows installation process.

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