It seems that if you happen to be an avid Windows user on your desktop or notebook, and happen to live in Europe, you no longer be offered a choice of different browsers. It seems that the Windows Browser Ballot has been put to bed at last, and just in case you are wondering what the heck is the Windows Browser Ballot all about, it is a delayed punishment for Microsoft by the European Commission as the software giant opted to include Internet Explorer with the Windows operating system at the beginning of this millennium.
Implemented in 2009 at long last, the ballot basically forced Windows users in Europe to select from a randomized selection of a dozen different browsers, where obviously Internet Explorer would be one of them – and this happens the first time you install Windows or purchased a brand new PC.
It is always nice to come to the end of a punishment, and Microsoft shared, “Microsoft provided the Browser Choice update in accordance with a decision issued by the European Commission in December 2009. The obligations imposed by that decision have expired and as a result the Browser Choice Update will no longer be delivered to new users.”
In reality, the ballot did not have much of an effect on the market, where the pop-up screen seemed to cause more confusion among users, where they had a choice of browser alternatives that they had not heard of prior.