Opera alerts EU to hidden Windows browser-ballot

More browser-wars problems?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/03/windows_ie_browser_ballot_screen/

 

Oh dear Lord, not all this again, lol.

 

They should also pressurise Linux desktop to offer a choice of browsers during install, its so unfair that most in Linux world have to face Mozilla FF which comes pre-bundled with most distros. A choice during install is the right way, so if MS can be pressured, the same should apply to Linux world.

 

Yes, browsers war on-going for a long time now.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/01/microsoft_on_chrome_privacy/

same source.

 

I totally agree, what's good for Windows is good for Linux.

 

At least PCLOS has the decency to offer Opera in their package manager unlike others like UBUNTU, FEDORA or SuSE who bow to the FOSS nazis and anything which doesn't have the word open to it and yet is a viable free alternative is totally removed, its up to the user to go find it and install it.

 

Opera is crying again?

Maybe they should spend their energy on building a competitive browser ...

 

Oh no poor Opera, after having bettered all in compliance and speed tests, they are indeed crying while mighty IE dominates all.

 

@ance,

Felt left out of action ?

Btw, nice foxIE avatar there

 

I thought the Fox was supposed to be a crafty old animal quick on its feet

 

I do like Opera, but they really need to stop this moaning. If Microsoft has built its own operating system and internet browsing is an integral part of it then bundling their own browser is fair game. if Opera, Chrome and Firefox want to attract larger market shares then they need to reach out to the end user. if the end user doesn't really care what browser they use then maybe these companies are in the wrong industry.

 

Well its about fair chance, I feel all users should be made aware of alternates and given a chance to use all and then decide.

 

I don't know how relevant this is ~

Your competitors are multi-billion dollar corporations. How can you succeed?

Douglas Adams wrote in his excellent book “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish” in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy [...] says of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation products that ‘it is very easy to be blinded to the essential uselessness of them by the sense of achievement you get from getting them to work at all.’ In other words — and this is the rock-solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation’s Galaxywide success is founded — their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.

Adams, Douglas

(The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide. Random House, New York, 1996: 594)

Opera will succeed because it is a better product, therefore providing a Better Internet Experience on Any Device.

~ Opera Press FAQ

There you are...straight from the horse's mouth!

 

Dave wins this thread.

 

Anybody who starts quoting from Hitchhiker gets an auto-win, lol. On the subject of Opera..oh boy, how do I go about this without upsetting people? Okay, here's my thoughts, I LIKE Opera. I'm using it quite happily to type this. But, they are, in my mind going a little overboard with this whole ballot deal. They were one of the main voices behind it, if not the loudest. They got it done, they got what they asked for. Is the ballot screen absolutely perfect? Nope, but it wasn't going to be. To me, and this is NOT an intentional Opera bash, they seem to be the only one of the browser vendors that just can't be pleased.

 

I honestly think that the whole browser ballot thing is incidental & symptomatic of something far more vitriolic between Microsoft & Opera ASA.

 

I don't know. I used to think Opera was just ticked off because they were the lowest on the totem pole of mainstream browsers, and no matter what they did, they could never get beyond 2% (U.S market, the European market and elsewhere is an entirely different ballgame). There's far more going on between Microsoft and Google than anyone else. They seem to be directly taking aim at Chrome now. It's like everyone else, Mozilla included, has fallen off their radar. I really don't know why Opera continues to protest. I figured Mozilla would do more, but they've gone quiet about it for a while. Opera on the other hand just continues to pop up in the news.

Media attention? Probably at least a little. Other than that, I really couldn't say. I guess it really isn't a concern to us. Those of us that like Opera still do, those that don't still don't. The bickering between corporates doesn't really affect us at the moment.

 

On the other hand, I DISLIKE Opera (I looove K-meleon) but I totally agree with Opera's efforts to blow the whistle on Microsoft's subterfuge. M$ are sneaky folks who would far prefer to hire lawyers instead of hiring more quality control personnel & better programmers.

 

Yep its not bout liking or disliking, whats fair is fair and I would support anyone trying to expose MS's shady tactics just as I would support MS if they bring out a IE for Linux and push FOSS Nazis to offer that as a choice during install of a distro.

 

Well, I suppose it is a bit of a concern for them.

I remember talking to one of the Opera ASA blokes on the Opera forums once. He seemed to have a real stick up the jacksy about the difficulty of finding a laptop or netbook not pre-loaded with MS Windows in Norway. When he did find one (Linux) he had some problems with WiFi compatibility. Fortunately for him he was some 'techy whizz' & could fix the problem. I get the feeling that there is a long-standing animosity between Microsoft & Opera ASA. All of this happening now is just some manifestation of that I guess.

You may have hit the proverbial nail on the head there. There's no such thing as bad publicity right? LOL

 

Call me sick and twisted, but I would actually enjoy the wailing and gnashing of teeth that would bring on. If Linux ever needed or wanted more attention, that right there would do it. The weird thing is that it in some ways would actually HELP Linux if MS made one for that platform. God knows for a long time that was one of the complaints against Linux. Of course, on the other hand, with Firefox and Chrome now here, perhaps it wouldn't do a thing for Linux.

I don't recall running across a true "FOSS Nazi" during my short times with Linux. Most were like me and just wanted things to work without some stupid terminal commands or driver insanity.

 

I think I'll "err" on the side of that

 

Heck, it's STILL hard to find a system not pre-loaded with Windows (and everything else under the sun for that matter). I honestly think Opera is Opera's problem. What I mean is, unless they are complaining about MS, I have to actually search for information on them. I can go visit a random webpage right now and will likely run across banners and other ads for Firefox, IE, and, starting lately, Chrome. I NEVER, repeat NEVER run across Opera banners "best viewed on"-type ads, and that kind of thing, for Opera.

Again, I am using Opera, and it works great. But, if media attention is what they truly need and/or want, it all starts in the marketing department, not with lawyers and PR guys in EU courts.

 

Wait till you use Linux for a while, you will see that its these very FOSS Nazis that want the downfall of desktop linux in the name of Free versus proprietary.