The software giant seeks to prevent a new and fine the European Commission, which accused him of abuse of dominant position to include the Internet Explorer on Windows

Microsoft has proposed to the European Commission to be a solution for users to decide what browsers installed on the new operating system Windows 7. The software giant and tries to prevent a new fine of Brussels, which accused him of abuse of dominant position to include the Internet Explorer on Windows.

The solution proposed by Microsoft is a home screen from which users can easily install, if desired, rival Explorer browsers such as Firefox or Chrome, set one as default, and even disable the Explorer.

With this proposal, including the Windows Internet Explorer 7. At the same time, Microsoft recognizes the principle that users should be able to choose freely their browser and posed method (the home screen) to get it, according to the Community Executive stressed. “The Commission welcomes this proposal and investigate its effectiveness in practice now to ensure that consumers can choose,” explained the executive community in a statement.

Brussels had rejected the earlier proposal to sell a version of Microsoft’s Windows Internet Explorer 7 without considering that this remedy would be ineffective by failing to ensure more choice for consumers. Brussels preferred operating system includes several browsers. The EU executive also revealed that the Redmond company has sent new proposals to improve the interoperability of Windows with the products of its rivals. Also in this case, Brussels announced that it will investigate the specific effects before reaching a conclusion.

The EU executive sent Microsoft a Statement of Objections on 15 January 2009 with allegations of abuse of dominant position to include in Windows Explorer. Brussels believes that it harms competition among Internet search engines, undermines innovation and reduce choice for consumers, because Windows is present in 95% of computers. The European Commission has already imposed three fines Microsoft amounting to almost 1,700 million euros. The first, in March 2004, worth 497 million euros for abusing its dominant position and the second in July 2006, which amounted to 280.5 million euros for failing to provide sufficient information on interoperabildad .

In February 2008 imposed a new penalty of 899 million euros, the highest in EU history for a single company, charging an excessive price for the information it supplies to rivals so they can make products compatible with your system Windows.

After months of rumors increasingly wild, we obtained well yesterday Official: Microsoft releases Zune indeed HD this fall. The device has a OLED touch screen, a video output to high definition (with an optional addition), a version of Internet Explorer (it looks similar to the version for Windows Mobile 6.5, which uses the core engine of IE6 but adds support snapshot, as well as some technology to improve IE8 Javascript support), and HD radio.

I talked to the sales team Zune this morning, and they didn ‘t have much to say beyond these points. In fact, they weren ‘t originally say on anything until later this summer, but felt they had to place hopes for Zune customers in light of all the rumors.

Here ’s why: Zune HD isn ‘ t gonna be the super-device which some experts had hoped. It will play games – just as today ’s Zunes, which carry with simple games of a couple – but it won ‘ t be a real game device as Portable or Nintendo DS Sony PlayStation. He won ‘t have its own application store, although Microsoft has hinted it could be connected to the next market for Windows Mobile, which could allow third party apps like Facebook and Pandora find a home on the device. He won ‘WiMax connectivity device t, although this could be scheduled for a future touchscreen phone with a similar form factor.

In other words, Zune 3.0, a music-focused with a touch screen interesting. It support video and apps, sure, but the team focuses on improving the experience of music-playback – think the art of album pages more detailed artist with images, perhaps texts or visual content.

These devices will be enough to compel users to choose a Zune HD instead of an iPod touch? The main difference seems to be HD radio. I believe Microsoft when they say FM radio is important selling point for Zune le ’s second, but users of Zune is a very small part of the overall MP3 player – the tens of millions of users who bought an iPod didn le ‘t care about the radio. There may be some other killer that we ‘t know yet, and there ‘ s always the transition from Zune to consider – much to $ 14.99 per month for unlimited projects and 10 permanent downloads – but I think that the battle against Apple will continue upward.

Insofar as the other half of the new disappears, it ’s been clear for some time that Microsoft was ready to integrate the Zune into Xbox live. The company will have more to show off next week at E3, so I save further comment until I saw what they got le ‘VE.

Microsoft has often been vilified for his embrace and extends open standards approach and the software giant now faces a heavy penalty for tinkering with Extensible Markup Language (XML).  Wednesday, a federal court in Texas has slapped Microsoft with a counterfeit $ 200 million to include Canadian software companies la ’s technology in Microsoft Word.Toronto-based i4i, director of collaborative solutions contented XML-based, Microsoft continued in 2007 to adapt the XML in the word in 2003 and 2007 expressed in a way that violated i4i ’s patent, the costs that Microsoft denied. According to Bloomberg News, cases of i4i le ‘its on Microsoft ‘ s method to deal with word using the codes included providing instructions on how the information appears.

While he was in the past acts that asylum le ‘t go his way, Microsoft insists didn ‘ t violate i4i ’s patent and the patent is unacceptable. Microsoft asked the court to return the verdict, new Bowermaster said by David Bloomberg spokesman for Microsoft.

Last month, a federal court in Rhode Island has ordered Microsoft to pay $ 388 million in damages violate a patent owned by Antipiracy UNILOC, a director of Singapore-based software Antipiracy. Claims Microsoft Antipiracy Mechanism of activation of Windows product s ( ‘of UNILOC WPA) violates its patents, and Microsoft appealed to the act as well.

In 2004, z4 Technologies, a Michigan-based ownership of the patent, Microsoft continued to use its technology in WPA, and in April 2006 won a $ 115 million ruling against Microsoft in the District Court of the United States in East Texas.

Microsoft, naturally, is far more accustomed to trials of counterfeit grading it to defend itself. Microsoft claims that free software and / or open-source violates 235 of its patents, and in February, the TomTom in-car manufacturer of GPS device to a company for infringement of three of them in the TomTom ’s performance of grain Linux.

However, this case has opened a can of worms for Microsoft, as the invention of open network, an organization that protects the industry by acquiring Linux and patents to open-source licensing, invited the community open-source to review the three patents with Microsoft but they rendered useless for further proceedings.