December 19, 2014 - 12:14 AMT
Microsoft scraps Browser Choice menu

Microsoft is no longer presenting Windows users with a Browser Choice menu in Europe after a European Commission order enforcing the requirement expired, Digital Spy said.

The computing giant was penalised by the EU in 2009 for breaching anti-competitive regulations by failing to inform users that there are alternatives to Internet Explorer.

As part of its settlement with the governing body, Microsoft agreed to display a Browser Choice menu highlighting other web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome for five years.

"Microsoft provided the Browser Choice update in accordance with a decision issued by the European Commission in December 2009," said Microsoft in a statement.

"The obligations imposed by that decision have expired and as a result the Browser Choice Update will no longer be delivered to new users."

Microsoft was fined $732 million in 2013 for violating the terms of its agreement with the EU, despite its insistence that the Browser Choice menu was absent on many Windows 7 PCs due to a technical error.