Microsoft will have to a face a very harsh winter in Europe, as the European Commission is getting ready to issue a formal list of complaints, after the company violated the European Union’s competition rules.
Citing unnamed sources, German publication Der Spiegel writes that Microsoft will be officially charged by the EU antitrust body and will most likely have to face a fine worth billions of Euro.
After a talk with antitrust regulators, Microsoft agreed in 2009 to provide users with a browser choice screen, but it failed to do so with the Windows 7 operating system launched in February 2011.
EU competition commissioner Joaquin Alumina says that no less than 28 million Windows users had no other choice than to use Internet Explorer, the browser that’s installed in the Windows operating system by default.
While Microsoft admitted the error, the company said that it’s willing to solve the problem and update all Windows workstations sold in Europe with a browser choice screen.
