Microsoft Settles Browser Dispute With EC

Microsoft’s rivals also seemed publicly accepting of the deal.

“This is a victory for the future of the web,” Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera Software, wrote in a 16 December statement. “Opera has long been at the forefront of web standards, which ensures that people have equal access to the web anytime, anywhere and on any device. We see the outcome of the EU’s investigation as a testament to our mission.”

Analysts seemed unsurprised by the browser settlement.

“Microsoft has bent over backward to try to accommodate the European Commission (EC),” Roger Kay, an analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates, said in an email to eWEEK. “I suppose the only surprise is that the EC finally went for it. There was some thought that the EC’s (not so) hidden agenda was to tip the field in favour of local companies (for example Opera) and that therefore it wouldn’t settle just to keep Microsoft tied up in knots.”

However, “Microsoft has some pretty persuasive lawyers on staff,” Kay added, “and at some point the EC had to admit that there were no further unresolved issues. For Microsoft, getting this ruling was like trapping spilled mercury.”