The settlement between Microsoft and the European Union over the choice of web browsers in current and older versions of Windows could be in some trouble. The settlement, which was signed back in 2009, was supposed to give European users of Windows a menu, such as the one above, that gives them a number of choices for browser downloads.
However, it appears that Microsoft has not been offering that menu since early 2011 to some users of Windows in Europe. In a new Bloomberg report, unnamed sources claim that the EU is preparing to file an official antitrust complaint on the matter.
Microsoft admitted in July that 28 million Windows 7 Service Pack 1 PCs did not display the required web browser menu. That amounts to about 10 percent of the total amount of Windows 7 SP1 users in the EU. Microsoft blamed a software issue for the problem and has since sent out an update to solve the glitch.
That may not be enough for the EU, who might decide to fine Microsoft for the lack of a web browser menu in the affected PCs.
The EU is also looking into a separate web browser issue, based on claims from Mozilla and Google that Microsoft is keeping their Firefox and Chrome browsers from having the same access to the advanced APIs that Microsoft uses for Internet Explorer 10 in Windows RT.
Source: Bloomberg | Image via Microsoft