The 'Web browser choice screen' is part of a by the software developer, in a bid to settle the , which was sparked by a filed by Norwegian browser developer in December 2007.

Microsoft said Windows 7, XP, Vista users would be offered an automatic download of the browser ballot screen, which offers a choice of five browsers and is currently undergoing internal testing, over the next few weeks.

"We'll begin a limited roll-out externally next week, and expect that a full scale roll-out will begin around March 1, a couple of weeks ahead of schedule," said Dave Heiner, Vice president and deputy general counsel at Microsoft, in a .

Microsoft said anyone running Internet Explorer as their default browser would see the screen, which offers more information and links to download , , and , as well as IE.

Microsoft said the list is presented in random order, in keeping with the company's agreement with the European Commission."Users who get the choice screen will be free to choose any browser or stick with the browser they have, as they prefer," added Heiner.