Have you ever read the stories that have people or entities continuously fighting? God vs. Satan, Hatfield vs. McCoys, and of course Microsoft vs. the European Union’s Competition Commission. The Microsoft vs. EUCC is one battle that has seen some epic moments, most of which have caused Microsoft to pony up a lot of dough or give into demands I’m sure made them cringe.

The latest fight concerns Microsoft’s lack of browser options when their OS is installed. The EUCC has had this issue in the spotlight for quite sometime, and finally it looks as though an agreement has been made. It concerns only one word — ballots. You read that correctly.

To provide Windows users more options when deciding on a web browser, Microsoft will now implement a ballot system when the OS is being installed. So, if you happen to buy a computer in Europe and then install Windows you’ll be given a list of choices for browser installs.

As of yet there is no word as to what browsers will be included, which is the key problem with the proposal. What basis will the EUCC go on with deciding what browsers get included in the Window’s installs? Will they only make them include four, or will there be a massive list of browsers? Believe me there’s plenty of browsers up there to make a gigantic ballot.

It will be interesting to see what happens from here on out. I can only imagine what the meeting sounded like when this plan was read at Microsoft’s HQ.

In a curious sign of our times, worldwide PC sales are predicted to hit a major slump in 2009. The news, dished out by iSuppli hit the computer manufacturing industry, with its web of subindustries, like the actual news of a long-expected death.

The news was particularly hard for the PC industry, since this is the first time it has sunk for over eight years. Mammoth corporations HP and Dell are coping with the downturn my beefing up other sectors of their business, but the decline is still a big ouch.

iSupli’s senior analyst Matthew Wilkins reported that “an annual decline in unit shipments is highly unusual in the PC market. Even in weak years PC unit shipments typically rise by single-digit percentages.”

2009 got off to a rough start, specifically in the desktop sector. In the first quarter, computer manufacturers were distributing a quarter less computers than they were before.

But the sad news is only part of the story. There is good news, too.

First, laptop sales are better than ever. The notebook industry watched a soaring increase in shipments, a jump of nearly 12 percent. For the first time in the brief history of computers, laptops are selling more than desktops.

Another bit of good news that puts the bad news into perspective is the rabid spread of the netbook. With its unassuming genesis into the alternative laptop market, it slowly grew into a massive market force. Although it is a trimmed-down version of the notebook PC, it still gives users the ability to do what they always did on their PC anyway: surf the web. But the price drop from their notebook cousins was what lured most recession-fearing consumers into making the purchase. Now, netbooks pack enough punch to make them near-equals in terms of power. The dire expectation of a slowing PC market does not take into account the happy news of consumers thirsty for small (and cheap) machines, fueling the mushrooming market of the netbook.

And there is another reason. The world is going mobile. The ‘curious sign of our times’ is not that the economy is failing. The ‘curious sign of our times’ is that the world is going mobile. Lighter, faster, and more powerful smartphones have washed into the tech market like a tsunami. Even big PC makers are jumping onto the wave in order to capitalize on consumer’s who crave the pocket power of an iPhone or Blackberry. These tricked-out devices may never entirely replace a desktop, but they could slow down the purchase of one for a while.

So, with all due condolences to a sliding PC market, there is good news in the market, too.

Microsoft Silverlight has had an interesting and fluctuating history. Starting out, not very many people paid attention to Silverlight. There were many who believed it was going to be Microsoft’s feeble attempt to compete with Flash. A couple of years later, with Silverlight going into 3.0 things couldn’t be going better. They could, but still Silverlight’s performance is to be commended.

Partnering with different venues, and bringing events like the Olympics, NCAA March Madness online solidified Silverlight’s status as a true player. The question now is, with 3.0 can Microsoft continue the trend?

Microsoft Silverlight 3.0 has some improvements that you should be keeping an eye on. First, is that 3-D support can now be offloaded to a GPU and help provide smoother execution. Also, with Silverlight 3.0 apps can be used outside of a browser. This is probably its greatest addition as the possibilities of Silverlight can only grow with more options provided to developers.

Microsoft has also implemented a new technology called ‘Smooth Streaming’. Coupled with Silverlight, Smooth Streaming is an automated compression system that will play video streams as the maximum allowance by the device and bandwidth.

It’s safe to say that Silverlight is definitely moving in the right direction. It’s not quite up to Flash numbers yet in terms of penetration, but it’s getting there.