The EU is threatening to tell Microsoft that it has to ship FireFox or another internet browser with Windows. They say that Microsoft is breaking antitrust laws by bundling Internet Explorer with the operating system.

Never mind the fact that no one has to use IE, or that there are no restrictions on installing any other browsers. The European Union’s anti-trust organization doesn’t care about that. They have to “protect” consumers from Microsoft, even if those consumers aren’t complaining or suffering any harm.

If they find that Microsoft is in violation of their anti-trust laws, then Microsoft can be fined based on the number of copies of Windows sold.

Here’s a solution that will ultimately save Microsoft a LOT of money: withdraw Windows from the market in Europe and cancel any existing licenses. If Microsoft doesn’t sell any of their software over there, they can’t be held liable for any trumped-up anti-trust violations.

I wonder how many European governments use Windows? What would happen if they suddenly stopped getting security updates? Or even stopped working?

I think they could save a lot of money in the long run. Seems like those Euro-weenies are suing Microsoft every few years. If Microsoft were to pull out of the market, they could save a ton of lawyers fees and fines. They’d also save a lot of money by not having to have a gajillion language packs for Windows.