Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) was hung out to dry back in 2002 when the U.S. government slapped it with all kinds of fines and limits based on its anti-competitive behavior in the PC market. Although Microsoft financially overcame all that was set against it, the company has not really wilted in terms of its software products or even the use of its market-leading internet browser, Internet Explorer.True, Internet Explorer has lost quite a bit of market share in the web browser space, but it still commands the lion's share of that market. The competition has not slowed down (just the opposite), but Microsoft's de facto place in the PC world will keep its Internet Explorer product breathing for quite some time. Ole' Softie may be trying to sneak away with something on the latest Internet Explorer version, but it won't get far. Regulators continue to watch.
Microsoft still has a backlog of 2,355 items remaining as part of a settlement with U.S. regulators that remain to be cleared if the company wants to exit its compliance oversight in 2011. Much of the original problems centered around the Internet Explorer web browser and Microsoft's default use of that product on all Windows-powered PCs for web browsing, and the company is going to great lengths to ensure it doesn't step on any other competing software when Internet Explorer is installed or upgraded.
While this is sure to confuse ordinary customers, at least the company bows to its regulators. Ordinary web users with Windows PCs will probably continue to use Internet Explorer for quite some time, and those in the know will seek out other web browser products to use (all of which are way better than Internet Explorer by most measures). That won't change for quite a while.
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