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From today, Following some recent legal talks with European antitrust officials people running Microsoft's Windows operating systems will be presented with a ballot screen asking them to choose which web browser they would like to use from now on

European computer users will be able to choose between 12 different browsers, ranging from more well-known browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera, to some more obscure software, such as K-meleon, Maxthon and Sleipnir.

Microsoft was forced into implementing the web browser "ballot box" following a ruling by the European Commission stating that Microsoft's practice of pre-installing their browser (Internet Explorer) on every new computer was anti-competitive.

The European Commission accepted Microsoft’s offer of rolling out the ballot box across its range of Windows machines, which it believes will make it easier for computer users to choose an alternative browser to Internet Explorer.

Windows users who use Microsoft's automated Windows Update service and have IE as their default web browser will be sent a screen that offers them a choice of 12 browsers, including IE, with the top five presented first, in random order.

Here they can then request additional information about each individual browser, or click a button to install whichever one they like.

It is not yet clear what effect this new browser choice will have on the current internet browser market share, which Microsoft leads.

Although exact estimates are hard to find, web stats firm Net Applications said Internet Explorer is used by 62% market share. Its closest rival is Firefox at 24% followed by Chrome, Safari and Opera respectively.

To read our thoughts on this development please head to the Thomas Cole Blog