In some recent Microsoft news on PC World, the company has decided to make another version of its new Windows 7 operating system without Internet Explorer included. In fact there’s no browser whatsoever included in the operating system.
This is a move by the software company to perhaps appease the European Union in their antitrust case against the company. The move comes in the shadow of a similar operating system offering it made available earlier through Windows XP N and Vista N. The "N" denoted that there was no Windows Media Player included in the operating system.
I’ve said it before and I’ll continue saying it. I like Microsoft. They make software I used on a daily basis. Do they screw it up sometimes? Of course! I’ve yet to find a piece of software or any product really that doesn’t mess something up. I’ve argued many times that I think many of the lawsuits against Microsoft are just a waste. Nobody has ever forced anyone to purchase a Microsoft product. I’ve got options to choose from to this day, and I continue to choose, and pay for, Microsoft software to be installed on my machines legally.
The PC World news story talks about how there are a variety of people upset at this move by Microsoft calling it "puckish". I call it giving people what they asked for in the operating system. If you thought it was unfair for Microsoft to bundle its browser in Windows, and that that move somehow limited your choice, then not putting any browser in the operating system should give you the ultimate choice for your system. Go get whatever you want and use it.