The European Commission has come down hard on Microsoft for failing to make it easy for Windows users to choose their browser between May 2011 and July 2012 with a hefty $ 731 million (around £485m, AUS$ 712m) fine.
An estimated 15 million Windows users in the EU were not given the option to select their browser during this time despite the EU ruling that Microsoft must give them a choice.
The Browser Choice Screen software was not found in PCs that came with the Service Pack 1 update to Windows 7 during the May 2011 to July 2012 period, which meant that it may have seemed to Windows u sers that they had to use Microsoft's own Internet Explorer browser.
Microsoft said this was an accident, blaming a technical error for the omission.
EU're in trouble
The company said it wouldn't be challenging the punishment in a statement: "We take full responsibility for the technical error that caused this problem and have apologised for it.
"We provided the Commission with a complete and candid assessment of the situation, and we have taken steps to strengthen our software development and other processes to help avoid this mistake â€" or anything similar â€" in the future."
If the $ 731 million fine sounds harsh to Microsoft, it should be happy that it isn't a lot worse. The Commission says that the amount takes into account the fact that the company co-operated and provided it with information when requested.
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