Sundar Pichai, which is behind the successful launch of Google's Chrome Internet browser, explains why Google is joining the fight against Microsoft (credit: niallkennedy)
Google recently announced that it is supporting the European Union antitrust proceedings against Microsoft’s bundling of Internet Explorer into Windows, joining Mozilla (Firefox) and Opera.
Apple which holds an 8 per cent market share is now the only “major” Web browser maker that has not join the fight against Microsoft.
“Google believes that the browser market is still largely uncompetitive, which holds back innovation for users. This is because Internet Explorer is tied to Microsoft’s dominant computer operating system, giving it an unfair advantage over other browsers,” wrote Sundar Pichai, a Google vice president for product management in a blog post.
“The value of competition for users (even in the limited form we see today) is clear: tabbed browsing, faster downloads, private browsing features, and more.”
Microsoft has until March 12 to respond to the EU commission’s objections, which is threatening the software maker with a “significant fine” and may require it to disable Internet Explorer “code” and offer a range of competing browsers in all new PCs, including Mozilla’s Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari or Opera.
The latest EU investigation stems from a complaint filed in December 2007 by Norwegian browser maker Opera Software.
This is a very good move.