Microsoft Goes Potato: Internet Explorer Features Now Carrier Exclusive

Back in December, we have reported about the very first Windows Phone 8 update, which (among other improvements) was supposed to bring a new Internet Explorer feature, allowing users not to download images, saving bandwidth and improving loading times.

Now, it looks like Microsoft has decided to make this feature a yet another Verizon exclusive, with even unlocked Australian / European phones missing the promised checkbox.

Internet Explorer improvements. You can now change your settings to prevent pictures from downloading automatically—an easy way to help keep data usage low. You can also delete selected sites from your browsing history and leave the rest intact.

Just recently, Microsoft touted Verizon as the exclusive carrier for DataSense (a feature that reports your data consumption and compresses the data to save some cash); and while carrier exclusivity for compression option might make some sense (not really), the software giant has refused to enable even the data reporting part for anyone but Verizon customers.

We are not exactly sure what are they thinking, considering that Android offers this option on all their phones and the fact that there is a Nokia Counters app for Windows Phone 7.5 devices, which does the very same thing, without any carrier intervention.