there was a follow on to this in 2006, regarding XP and Vista
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4713018.stm
makes an interesting read!

What is also interesting is that the non-US Linux repos (the ones containing encryption libraries considered too difficult for the US government crack on the fly) have since been incorporated into the main stream. Perhaps they've found a way to bypass Linux encryption as well.

I have to wonder just how mr Joe Public will get a browser in the first place. I doubt many of their target audience is going to know command line FTP, or can be bothered to download it via a second PC.

Unless, and I'm guessing here, there's some sort of windows update which installs IE as soon as the OS is installed!! That allows them to say that they haven't bundled it, while at the same time giving IE as the only option. Unless there's the option to pick another (possibly via some registry hack or other almost impossible windows hack that non-savvy users won't know about)

Giving users a choice of nothing is going to cause a bit of a public backlash - which will go one of two ways;

• either everyone will dump windows for being useless and not allowing them the basics applications that they're used to (or stick with XP for a lot, lot longer),
• or they'll complain to the EU that they can't use the internet because they haven't been give a browser.

I can't believe Microsoft would be quite that stupid, so it looks to me like they are trying for the sympathy vote, basically hoping to turn any complaints for their own non-compliance back on the EU.

correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that registry edit what you have to do in Windows?