In a press release, Microsoft officially stated that the company is looking to fix a technical error that prevented the Browser Choice Screen from displaying in roughly 28 million PCs running Windows 7 SP1 in Europe where Internet Explorer is the default browser.
“We have fallen short in our responsibility to do this. Due to a technical error, we missed delivering the BCS software to PCs that came with the service pack 1 update to Windows 7. The BCS software has been delivered as it should have been to PCs running the original version of Windows 7, as well as the relevant versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista. However, while we believed when we filed our most recent compliance report in December 2011 that we were distributing the BCS software to all relevant PCs as required, we learned recently that we’ve missed serving the BCS software to the roughly 28 million PCs running Windows 7 SP1,” Microsoft explains.
Microsoft is looking into fixing this matter and is very apologetic about it. Microsoft has also extended the compliance period in which the company will offer the screen for another 15 months. Microsoft will also conduct an outside investigation into the error. Unfortunately, the EU is still not happy and has launched a probe into the matter. Who knows, Microsoft could face additional penalties from the EU for this error.
Further reading: Internet Explorer, Microsoft
