MSN Shutting Out Non-MS Browsers

from the evil-empire-at-work? dept

It seems that Microsoft has a special talent for doing things that stink of monopoly practices. They don’t even try to hide it any more. The latest is that they’re apparently blocking access to MSN.com unless you come in using IE. Since I don’t use MSN.com at all, this isn’t such a big deal to me, but it seems like a very silly way to force people to upgrade their browsers to the “approved” version. All it does is anger people who were doing just fine with whatever browser they chose until Microsoft came along and decided it wasn’t good enough. Update: Following the outrage from many people Microsoft has decided to open up MSN.com viewing to other browsers, though they warn the experience won’t be as good. Oh, darn. Update again: Okay, Microsoft lied. They’re still not letting in many non-IE browsers.


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Comments on “MSN Shutting Out Non-MS Browsers”

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5 Comments
Dave Dixon says:

they may have a point

OK, I know that it’s not the most fashionable thing in the world to start defending Microsoft, but they may have a point.
MSN is a free service, and MS are not a charity so there’s no reason to expect them to offer a service free of charge to just everyone. If the ‘entrance fee’ is to use IE rather than another browser then that seems fair. You pay your money (or not), your take your choice.
Personally I think that this is a valid enough action on their part, but it might have been executed in an undiplomatic way.

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