Microsoft late last week released the full text of its browser "ballot" proposal for Windows in Europe, explaining how it would implement the plan for Windows XP, Vista and 7, if the proposal is approved by European antitrust regulators. Based on earlier comments by Opera Software, which originally brought the antitrust complaint, one item that stands out as potentially controversial is the way Microsoft is proposing to display the different browser choices in the ballot.

The Microsoft proposal says the ballot screen will "in a horizontal line and in an unbiased way display icons of and basic identifying information on the web browsers." Microsoft submitted the screenshot above as a proposed implementation of the ballot concept.

But Opera's chief technology officer, Hakon Wium Lie, suggested in an interview Friday that displaying logos or icons could result in a natural bias toward Internet Explorer. The theory: The inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows has made the Microsoft browser so ubiquitous that people see the IE logo as a generic icon for accessing the Internet.

"We're not sure about the use of logos," Lie said. "The blue 'e' has become so associated with the Internet in general, due to the bundling with Windows. We think using the blue "e" might not be such a good idea."

Overall, however, Lie said last week that Opera was pleased with the proposal. So it looks this is more likely to be a negotiating point than a roadblock. The European Commission said last week that it welcomed the Microsoft proposal, promising to "investigate its practical effectiveness in terms of ensuring genuine consumer choice."