Internet Explorer Update: Microsoft Fined $733 Million for Not Offering Alternate Browsers; IE 10 Bug Reported

By Michael Oleaga / m.oleaga@latinospost.com (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Mar 06, 2013 07:13 PM EST

Microsoft has been given a heavy fine for not offering alternative browsers in their Windows operating system.

The European Union (EU) has fined Microsoft €561 million for not keeping its part of a deal in offering rival Internet browsers on their Windows operating systems. The deal was made in 2009 with the EU in order to solve disputes against Microsoft's hold on their Windows operating system. Microsoft had agreed to pay €860 million under the promise to give Windows users the option of selecting other browsers other than Internet Explorer, which comes pre-installed with Windows.

Microsoft's failure to comply with the EU led to the Commission's first penalty.

"Legally binding commitments reached in antitrust decisions play a very important role in our enforcement policy because they allow for rapid solutions to competition problems," said the Commission's Vice President Joaquin Alumunia during a press conference in Brussels. "Of course, such decisions require strict compliance. A failure to comply is a very serious infringement that must be sanctioned accordingly."

And sanctioned they were.

When converted to the U.S. dollar, the fine equates to approximately $733 million.

The size of the fine, according to the Commission, is based on "the gravity and duration of the infringement" done by Microsoft.

"We take full responsibility for the technical error that caused this problem and have apologized for it," Microsoft said in a statement. "We provided the commission with a complete and candid assessment of the situation, and we have taken steps to strengthen our software development and other processes to help avoid this mistake - or anything similar - in the future."

The fine comes on top of Internet Explorer (IE) 10 catching a bug. According to Microsoft, IE 10's hybrid graphics are not functioning properly on Windows 7.

According to Microsoft Support, "This issue occurs because some computers have hybrid video cards that are not yet compatible with Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7. Internet Explorer 10 will not install on these computers until updated hardware drivers are available for these video cards."

Microsoft further added that the issue affects the following computers:

- Dell Inspiron N4120

- Dell Inspiron N5110

- Dell Vostro 3350

- HP Pavilion DV6

- HP Pavilion DV7

- HP Pavilion G6

- HP Pavilion G7

- HP ProBook 4530s

- Lenovo G770

- Lenovo Ideapad G570 (20079)

- Lenovo ThinkPad E420 (1141PW8)