The European Union (EU) has accepted Microsoft’s proposal for a browser ballot screen, allowing Windows users to choose their browser on first run.

The ballot screen will be pushed out to users of Windows XP, Vista, and 7 via Windows Update for users in the EU and neighbouring countries.

The ballot screen is required to be in place for at least the next 5 years, or Microsoft face fines of up to 10% of it’s world wide turnover.

On release, the ballot screen is set to include the 5 major browser – Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Opera – all in a random order. Users will also be able to scroll down the screen to choose less popular browsers. These include AOL, Maxthon, K-Meleon, Flock, Avant Browser, Sleipnir and Slim Browser.

The list of browsers is set to be reviewed every 6 months.

“We hope this closes a long chapter in a sometimes uneasy relationship with the Commission, and we hope it opens a new one,” said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

The ballot screen is expected to be pushed out to users in the first part of 2010.

Microsoft has pushed out the IE Cumulative Security Update for December 2009 via Windows Update and Microsoft Update.

The update is rated as critical for Internet Explorer 5.01, 6, 6 SP1, 7, and 8 for all versions of Windows except Windows Server 2003, 2008, and 2008 R2 where the update is only rated as moderate.

The update fixes five reported vulnerabilities in the browsers.

Being a cumulative update, it contains all previously released updated for Internet Explorer and is recommended for all users.

More information on the update can be found below:

• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-072
• Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 976325

Microsoft has conceded to pressure from the European Union (EU), and will now randomise the order of web browsers displayed on the systems browser ballot screen for EU users.

This comes as a bit of a blow for Apple, who were in line to have Safari first on the ballot screen.

Microsoft is now expecting approval of the new ballot screen before Christmas, and will push out an update to all Windows users in the EU with the ballot screen update.

The browser ballot screen will run the first time a user opens Internet Explorer, and will offer the user a choice of browser.

Currently, Apple’s Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer are all set to be included on the ballot screen.

The end may finally be in sight for Microsoft in the anti-trust case.

Development of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) seems to be going full steam ahead at Microsoft, with the first news starting to come out from the campus.

Firstly, it seems that IE9 will feature hardware accelerated rendering.

“We think that the hardware you run on should shine through the browser,” said Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft’s Windows and Windows Live division.

This means that IE9 will be able to use graphics hardware to accelerate the rendering of images, videos and animations.

Early benchmarks of the JavaScript engine are also available, showing that IE9 is about the same speed as Firefox 3.5 in it’s early stage, more than 4 times faster than IE8.

A full run down on what to expect from IE9 can be read in An Early Look At IE9 for Developers.

Microsoft have come out publicly saying they are unhappy with Chrome Frame, as it will leave the browser open to twice as many vulnerabilities.

“Given the security issues with plugins in general and Google Chrome in particular, Google Chrome Frame running as a plugin has doubled the attach area for malware and malicious scripts. This is not a risk we would recommend our friends and families take” said a Microsoft spokesperson.

Google has hit back, with the following statement.

“While we encourage users to use a more modern and standards compliant browser such as Firefox, Safari, Opera or Google Chrome rather than a plug-in, for those who don’t, Google Chrome Frame is designed to provide better performance, strong security features, and more choice to both developers and users, across all versions of Internet Explorer.”

“Accessing sites using Google Chrome Frame brings Google Chrome’s security features to Internet Explorer users, providing strong phishing and malware protection (absent in IE6), robust sandboxing technology, and defenses from emerging online threats that are available in days rather than months.”

That settles that – for now.

Mozilla has responded to Microsoft’s proposal for a browser ballot in Windows and they are not satisfied.

Mozilla VP and General Counsel Harvey Anderson believes that various mechanisms in the operating system that are controlled by Microsoft could create conditions that encourage users to unintentionally reset their default browser to Internet Explorer.

“Our most urgent concerns in the EC investigation related to protecting a user’s choice of a non-IE browser. The proposal largely addresses those concerns and should merit support if certain deficiencies are corrected” said Anderson.

Anderson is quick to criticise, but offers little in the way of suggestions to ease his concerns. Full details on Anderson’s concerns can be read in his blog post.

Microsoft is set to support Internet Explorer 6 for a while longer according to a post on the companies IEBlog, despite a renewed effort demanding it be scrapped and users forced to upgrade.

“The choice to upgrade software on a PC belongs to the person responsible for the PC” said Microsoft’s Internet Explorer boss Dean Hachamovitch.

“We’ll continue to strongly encourage Windows users to upgrade to the latest IE. We will also continue to respect their choice, because their browser is their choice. Dropping support for IE6 is not an option because we committed to supporting the IE included with Windows for the lifespan of the product. We keep our commitments.”

Hachamovitch’s comments come after Digg’s proposal to remove support for IE6, and a new ‘IE6 No More‘ campaign.

Hachamovitch also points out that the large majority of IE6 users don’t have the ability to upgrade, but are rather bound by the software their organisations allow them to use.

It appears IE6 is still here to stay – for now.

Microsoft has finally jumped onto the HTML5 bandwagon, providing feedback on the current draft version.

Up until now, most of the HTML5 draft has been worked on by rivals Apple, Mozilla, Opera and Google.

According to reports, Internet Explorer Program Manager Adrian Bateman has sent a letter to the World Wide Web Consortium, with Microsoft’s thoughts and queries on the current editor’s draft.

“As part of our planning for future work, the IE team is reviewing the current editor’s draft of the HTML5 spec and gathering our thoughts. We want to share our feedback and discuss this in the working group. I will post our notes as we collect them so we can iterate on our thinking more quickly. At this stage we have more questions than answers, but I believe that discussing them in public is the best way to make progress” said a letter from Bateman.

Microsoft hasn’t completely ignored HTML5, with Internet Explorer 8 including support for the DOM Store, Ajax Navigation, Cross Document Messaging and Cross Domain Messaging, all components of  HTML 5.

More developments are sure to continue.

After announcing that Windows 7 would ship in the European Union without Internet Explorer, Microsoft has done a back flip and will once again include the companies web browser.

Microsoft released the following statement:

In the wake of last week’s developments, as well as continuing feedback on Windows 7 E that we have received from computer manufacturers and other business partners, I’m pleased to report that we will ship the same version of Windows 7 in Europe in October that we will ship in the rest of the world.

One reason we decided not to ship Windows 7 ‘E’ is concerns raised by computer manufacturers and partners. Several worried about the complexity of changing the version of Windows that we ship in Europe if our ballot screen proposal is ultimately accepted by the Commission and we stop selling Windows 7 ‘E’. Computer manufacturers and our partners also warned that introducing Windows 7 ‘E’, only to later replace it with a version of Windows 7 that includes IE, could confuse consumers about what version of Windows to buy with their PCs.

A ballot screen update is still said to be on the cards for all Windows XP, Vista and 7 European Users if the EU accepts Microsoft’s proposal.

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.