Opera: Microsoft Should Offer More Browsers In Windows 7

Microsoft's plan operating system

Yesterday, a Microsoft executive said that computer manufacturers will have the option of selling the Windows 7 operating system without IE in Europe, caving to European Union pressure. But Norweigan company Opera, which makes a browser of the same name, said that move did not go far enough.

Thursday's decision by Microsoft would mean Windows 7 would be sold with no browser included -- leaving it up to the consumer to select which browser to use. Opera's Chief Technology Officer Hakon Wium Lie told Reuters that plan would not restore competition to the market. Wium Lie told the news organization that operating systems should be sold with several browsers -- rather than with none at all.

"I don't think it's going to be enough, I don't think it will get them off the hook," he told Reuters.

For its part, Microsoft has repeatedly said the browser is an integral part of the OS, but reversed course on the eve of the European Commission's ruling on antitrust charges brought against Microsoft in January. Those charges claim that Microsoft has an unfair advantage because it bundles its Internet Explorer browser with its OS.