Consumers win in the EU case against Microsoft & IE

Not sure anyone wins from this. I don't see why we need government sticking up for free products. People have been choosing Firefox for years now and converting their friends. What's the point of forcing the issue through law?<p>I'm not sure why Microsoft is even making a web browser right now. I doubt there's a business case for it. So what exactly is anyone hoping to achieve with this?

<i>Under terms of the European settlement, Microsoft will...send ballot screens ...to 100 million users of Windows XP, Vista and 7 operating systems in Europe who have set Internet Explorer as their main browser.</i><p>Why only to those who have IE as their default? If they really want to be fair, they should let <i>everybody</i> get a fresh choice about which browser to use.<p>I mean, if it makes sense to let current IE users choose to go to Firefox or Chrome, why doesn't it also make sense to let Firefox users choose to go elsewhere (even to IE!)?

<i>"On the ballot screen, consumers initially will be able to choose from Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, AOL, Maxthon, K-Meleon, Flock, Avant Browser, Sleipnir and Slim Browser. The first five, which are the most widely used, will be prominently displayed, and the others will be shown when a user scrolls sideways on the screen."</i><p>That's quite a list, I don't even recognize some of them.<p>I wonder if we'll have to start testing sites in 11 different browsers (not to mention different versions of each).

Web developers around the world fall to their knees with tears of joy and relief.