Microsoft has pretty much abandoned the notion of shipping Windows 7 in Europe without a browser.

It threatened to take that step in mid-June before it capitulated to regulatory pressure and opted to give users a choice of browsers on a so-called "consumer ballot screen."

It's still unclear whether the concession will save Microsoft from still another fine from the European Commission since the regulator hasn't officially accepted the ballot screen proposal - only smiled a lot like the cat that swallowed the canary.

Microsoft deputy counsel David Heiner blogged last Friday that if the ballot screen proposal isn't accepted then it's back to the browser-less Windows 7 "E" for Europe.

But provided it is, Heinen said, Microsoft will ship "the same version of Windows 7 in Europe in October that we will ship in the rest of the world."

Apparently OEMs and the channel weren't any happier at the prospect of Windows 7 E and IE shipping separately than the EC.

Heiner said "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."

Under the proposal OEMs are free to install any browser and set any browser to be the default when building Windows-based PCs.

After the user sets up a new Windows PC, Microsoft will update it over the Internet with the consumer ballot software program.

"If IE is the default browser," Heinen said, "the user will be presented with a list of other leading browsers and invited to select one or more for installation. Technically, this consumer ballot screen will be presented as a web page that can be updated over time as new browsers become available."

He said "users could return to this page anytime to install the latest browsers or learn more about them. (The browser links will connect users directly to the appropriate web servers to download the various browsers.)

"As part of the installation process for a new browser, users can choose whether to make the new browser their default browser. Users also can take advantage of configuration options built into Windows to change their default browser selection and turn access to IE, or other browsers, on or off.

"This consumer ballot screen may result in some users switching from IE to other browsers. It is unlikely to lead to any users switching to IE, since the screen will not be presented to Windows users whose default is Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera or any other browser.

"The consumer ballot screen is designed for existing Windows PCs too, not just new ones. If our proposal is accepted by the Commission, we will update Windows XP and Windows Vista machines throughout Europe with the consumer ballot screen. Once installed, the consumer ballot screen will work as described above - users with IE set as their default will be presented with the browser choices, others won't."