Microsoft has confirmed that users of Windows Vista and Windows XP in the European Union will also be provided with a ballot screen of web browsers.

The change will be pushed out via Windows Update to all users in the EU.

“Microsoft will distribute a Ballot Screen software update to users within the EEA of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows Client PC Operating Systems, by means of Windows Update as described hereafter: A software update enabling the Ballot Screen to be displayed will be made available to all current and future users of Windows XP and Windows Vista who receive updates from Windows Update. For Windows XP and Windows Vista users the Ballot Screen update will first be made available between 3 and 6 months after the adoption of the Commission’s decision.”

There is still no word on when the final decision will be made.

Hot on the heals of the Firefox 3.7 interface mock-ups, Firefox 4.0 mock-up designs have surfaced.

While the new Windows interface looks similar to that of Firefox 3.7, there are some slight differences, including an in-line refresh and stop button.

Two separate designs have been proposed, one with tabs above the address bar, and one with the tabs below the address bar as is currently the case. More screen shots are available after the jump.

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Microsoft has finally craved to pressure from the European Union, and instead of offering no browser in Windows 7 E in Europe, the company will offer a ballot screen which will allow users to choose a web browser.

This is a big win for consumers, with the EU acknowledging the decision. “The European Commission can confirm that Microsoft has proposed a consumer ballot screen as a solution to the pending antitrust case.”

“We believe that if ultimately accepted, this proposal will fully address the European competition law issues relating to the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows and interoperability with our high-volume products,” said Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith.

A proposed ballot screen can be seen below:

Thanks to a new algorithm, Google is able to push out Chrome updates in one tenth of the size they used to.

This means that Chrome updates can be pushed out to more simultaneously, protecting users against threats faster than before.

An example has been given on the recent update from 190.1->190.4 on the development channel.

Google has pushed out Chrome 2.0.172.37 to users of the browser, patching two security holes.

The security holes would allow an attacker to run arbitrary code in the Google Chrome sandbox and even with the privileges of the logged on user.

Other changes include:

• Fix: Solving captcha images broken at orkut.com. (Issue15569)
• Make forward/backward navigation work even when redirection is involved. (Issue 9663, issue 10531)
• Fix: Daylight savings time not recognized for some CET locales. (Issue 12579)
• Fix a browser crash on closing a URL request. (Issue 8942)
• Update the V8 Javascript engine to version 1.1.10.14 to fix issues with regular expressions.
• Update Gears to the latest release, 0.5.25.0.

The update will be pushed out automatically to Chrome users.

For those that are still using Firefox 3, Mozilla has updated the browser to close 9 security holes, 4 of which were rated critical.

A full list of changes can be found in the release notes, and the update is recommended for all Firefox 3 users.

The update will be pushed out to existing Firefox 3 users in the next 24-48 hours or can be updated from the Help menu.

Microsoft has revealed that it will charge €4 for a copy on Internet Explorer 8 on CD, after announcing that Windows 7 will ship in the European Union without Internet Explorer.

The move to remove the browser from the operating system is a direct result of action taking against Microsoft by the European Union with companies such as Opera and Mozilla.

Internet Explorer 8 will however remain free for users to download, along with competing browsers. The biggest issue that most will face is the inability to browse to websites on a fresh install of Windows 7 to download a browser of their choice.

This is not expected to be a problem for those who buy their PC’s from manufactures such as Dell and HP, as they are still expected to bundle browsers with new systems.

With Firefox 3.5 barely out the door, the Mozilla team is already working on Firefox 3.7, which is expected to have a brand new user interface, tweaked for Vista and Windows 7 Aero.

Below is an initial mockup of Firefox 3.7 running in Windows Vista, with features including:

1. Embracing Glass: Toolbar and Tabs using Glass. Buttons translucent and slightly glossy to meld with the toolbar. Raised 3D look achieve tactile “feel”.
2. Page Button: Connect the Page button to the left side of the tab area. Directly connected to the Page.
3. Tools/Bookmark Bar: Connecting the Tools button to the side of the Window to emphasize the fact that it is used for customizing and changing the UI. Adding a button next to that to toggle the Bookmarks Bar which is turned off by default.

More screenshots are after the break.

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Opera have released the beta 2 of their 10th generation web browser.

Opera 10 Beta 2 has had a slew of changes, including security, interface and stability changes. A full list is available in the change log.

New features in Opera 10 included an inline spell-checker, auto-update, and Opera Turbo for faster browsing on slower connections.

The new beta version can be downloaded Opera Next website.

Mozilla has released Firefox 3.5.1 which fix several security and stability issues.

One security vulnerability is rated as critical, and could allow a remote attacker to gain control of a users PC.

Firefox 3.5.1 can be downloaded from the Firefox website, and will automatically be pushed out to existing Firefox 3.5 users. A full list of changes can be found in the release notes.