Finalfine · Antitrust (breach of commitments)
Microsoft fined €561M over the browser choice screen
€561M
≈ $606M at the time
European Commission
EU · 2013
Status: Final
What happened
The Commission fined Microsoft for breaking a legally binding commitment to show Windows users a browser-choice screen, which silently disappeared for roughly 15 million users. It was the first EU fine for breaching commitments.
How it affected users
Users were not shown alternatives to Internet Explorer as they had been promised.
Status timeline
Mar 6, 2013
Penalty announced.
Sources
Last verified 2026-07-02. Spotted an error? Report a correction.
Cite this entry
Deepak Gupta, "Microsoft fined €561M over the browser choice screen," Tech Fines Directory, guptadeepak.com, 2013-03-06. https://guptadeepak.com/tech-fines/violation/microsoft-eu-browserchoice-2013/