Digital Home Thoughts: Microsoft Settles Antitrust Case With EU

"Microsoft Corp. ended more than a decade of antitrust disputes with the European Union by giving consumers a choice among Web browsers. Microsoft's Windows operating system will include a screen that gives users the option of using rival browsers, the European Commission said in a statement. The so-called choice screen, available by mid-March, lets users turn off Microsoft's Internet Explorer and install an alternative."

Here's why this is mostly an empty victory for the EU: the people who don't know any better, the people who have no idea what Firefox, Opera, or Chrome are, will click on the little blue "e" that they recognize. The people who are experienced enough to use alternate browsers will install whatever they want. So how exactly is this a victory for the EU? I'm just glad it's settled - Microsoft doesn't need distractions like this slowing it down.