clipped from: www.nzherald.co.nz 
BRUSSELS - European Union regulators said Microsoft was offering less choice, not more, by vowing to sell the next version of Windows without any web browsers at all.
Microsoft said that it would remove its Internet Explorer browser - and not include any alternatives - in the Windows 7 software it will sell from Oct. 22 in Europe to soothe EU antitrust concerns.
The company is trying to avoid new EU fines, on top of a previous €1.7 billion fine, after being earlier charged with unfairly using its operating system monopoly to squeeze into other software markets.
"Rather than more choice, Microsoft seems to have chosen to provide less," it said in a statement late.
The European Commission said it would have to weigh up whether this would actually create genuine consumer choice.
Microsoft says it is fully compliant with web standards.