As one comment aptly pointed out - how would you download an alternative to IE if there was no browser shipped with the system? (Somehow I don't think FTP is a viable alternative!)
Of course, you could simply have browsers (and insist that there are at least two alternatives) shipped with the computer on CD, so that the buyer could choose what to install. But who pays for that and how do you control it and which browsers are included? This would fall on the computer manufacturer/distributor to do, because I can't see forcing MS to ship a competitor's browser!
I would assume the overriding issue is getting IE out of the OS - right now you cannot in fact delete it, so it's not
really optional, unlike Safari which ships with OS X but can certainly be given the old heave ho if so desired.
Is this worth another fight for the EU? I dunno. Seems like there might be larger fish to fry out there than this.
Note: there are some real lulus in the comments section - the nitwit who first posted about web standards hasn't the foggiest, nor does the other twit who said that FF is based on Webkit.
(others, a long way into the thread do correct them...)
