Late last week, Microsoft announced that the company would offer a ballot screen in not only Windows 7 but also in Windows Vista and Windows XP.

The ballot screen will allow European customers to choose from a selection of competing browsers. Microsoft stated the following in a proposal to the European Union late last week:

“ A software update enabling the Ballot Screen to be displayed will be made available to all current and future users of Windows XP and Windows Vista who receive updates from Windows Update.   For Windows XP and Windows Vista users the Ballot Screen update will first be made available between 3 and 6 months after the adoption of the Commission’s decision under Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003. For Windows 7, the Ballot Screen update will first be made available to users by the date of the general commercial release of Windows 7, or within two weeks of the adoption of the Commission’s decision under Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003, whichever comes later.  For Windows Client PC Operating Systems after Windows 7, the Ballot Screen update will first be made available at the general commercial release date of such an operating system.”

The ballot screen will give those users who have set Internet Explorer as their default browser an opportunity to choose whether and which competing web browser(s) to install in addition to the one they already have. The ballot screen will provide two different links associated with each web browser. Users will be able to choose one or more of the web browsers offered through the ballot screen.

“The Ballot Screen will be populated with the most widely-used web browsers that run on Windows with a usage share of equal to or more than 0.5% in the EEA as measured semi-annually by a source commonly agreed between Microsoft and the European Commission (see paragraph 13), but not more than ten (not counting different versions of one and the same browser). In addition, if a browser’s usage share is among the top 10, but that browser is no longer actively offered by its vendor, that browser will not be included in the Ballot Screen.”