Microsoft's Internet Explorer has lost market share in major European markets, after European antitrust investigations forced Microsoft to provide users with a ballot installation screen that allows them to choose between Internet Explorer , Safari, Google Chrome, Opera and Firefox.

According to web statistics firm Statcounter, Internet Explorer's share of all Web surfing has in March dropped in France by 2.5 percentage points from February, in Britain by 1 percentage point and in Italy by 1.3 points.

Opera has seen downloads more than double in Europe from normal levels due to the choice screen, with downloads in Italy, Spain and Poland more than tripling.

Mozilla also claims that it has seen strong growth.

Smaller Web browsers have urged the European Union to push Microsoft to provide them more visibility in its browser choice website.

According to the Microsfts/EU plan, the rollout of the Choice Screen will continue well into May for existing Windows computers and for five more years on new installations.