No IE onboard Windows 7 in Europe

European buyers of Windows 7 will have to download and install a web browser for themselves.

Bowing to European competition rules, Microsoft Windows 7 will ship without Internet Explorer.

The company said it would make it easy for PC makers and users to get at and install the web browsing program.

In response the European Commission expressed scepticism over the move and whether it would allay accusations of Microsoft abusing its market position.

Abusive behaviour

"We're committed to making Windows 7 available in Europe at the same time that it launches in the rest of the world," Dave Heiner, Microsoft deputy general counsel, said in a statement, "but we also must comply with European competition law as we launch the product.

"We believe that this new approach, while not our first choice, is the best path forward given the ongoing legal case in Europe."