Back in July it was revealed that Microsoft is being investigated by European Regulators for failing to provide users with the now-famous ‘browser choice’ screen in Windows 8. Apparently Microsoft doesn’t want to go toe-to-toe with the EU because news is coming in that they have caved into European demands.

Reuters is quoting European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia as stating Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has pledged to add the browser choice screen to Windows 8:

In my personal talks with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer he has given me assurances that they will comply immediately regardless of the conclusion of the anti trust probe.

Aside from just adding the browser choice screen, Microsoft has promised to eliminate any obstacles that may prevent the installation of third-party browsers, such as Firefox or Chrome, on Windows 8.

For those that aren’t familiar with the topic at hand, the browser choice screen is a prompt European consumers see with upon the installation of Windows. This screen allows Europeans the ability to select a browser other than Internet Explorer as the default browser. This browser choice screen is part of an anti-trust agreement Microsoft signed with the EU three years ago; Microsoft does not show, nor does it have to show, the screen to anyone outside the European Union.

It isn’t entirely clear if Microsoft will be adding the browser choice screen on only the desktop/laptop versions of Windows 8 or on Windows RT, too. I imagine Microsoft will try to argue that Windows RT is not part of the agreement that Microsoft signed with the EU three years ago (because of how Windows RT is a tablet operating system and Microsoft has no monopoly on tablets). Only time will tell who will buckle on the Windows RT issue, Microsoft or the EU. For now, however, it seems like the EU has won.

[via Reuters]