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Turns out the European Commission was right about browsers: users don’t necessarily find the Internet Explorer (IE) experience as integral to the overall Windows experience as Microsoft says it is. Given a choice, under the newly approved Windows browser ballot, some of the lesser known browser options are seeing a boost in adoption.
Opera, in particular, has been a beneficiary. Rolf Assev, chief strategy officer for Opera is reporting a tripling in its downloads, with big surges in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Poland, and Spain. No word yet, however, on how other browsers in the ballot are doing
It’s fair to say that a tripling of Opera’s downloads may not amount to much, but it does suggest that, if given a legitimate choice, users will opt for something other than IE. And, in the overall scheme of things, it will be the lesser known browsers that will likely benefit.
Fans of IE should be happy with this. The more competition there is in the browser market, the more Microsoft’s feet will be held to the fire to keep IE up-to-date. Given that smaller market share apps tend to be innovators, it can’t hurt to keep them around, if for no other reason then for the big boys to prey upon the new features they introduce.
Image Credit: Opera
Comments are closed on this article
Curtai
March 03, 2010 at 7:27pm
So how do I get rid of IE then? because I been trying to get rid of it forever... I have even uninstalled it in the add/remove windows components section...
Caboose
March 03, 2010 at 7:49pm
you dont
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Vegan
March 03, 2010 at 5:53pm
Wow, so this proves that people really WERE stupid enough to not realize they had choices.
nduanetesh
March 03, 2010 at 3:40pm
"It’s fair to say that a tripling of Opera’s downloads may not amount to much..." That sentence made me chuckle, because when I read the headline I thought, "two more people downloaded Opera and tripled the downloads?"
nekollx
March 03, 2010 at 4:06pm
and i was going to say "so six people download it?"
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Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Caboose
March 03, 2010 at 2:46pm
Ooo what's this big red 'O'. I'm oddly drawn towards it, like a moth towards a flame!" *click* *download* *install*
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
JohnP
March 03, 2010 at 1:51pm
The users will go back to Internet Explorer. This happens all the time when offering a new or upgraded browser (i.e. Bing) It will be a splash for a while then everyone goes back to Firefox or Chrome.
I think Chrome is the only real threat to IE and Firefox as Google is making changes and improving the experience a hell of a lot faster than MS or Mozilla.
nduanetesh
March 03, 2010 at 3:38pm
Bing is a search engine. Not a web browser.
Google is very frustrated that people don't know the difference.
lien_meat
March 03, 2010 at 3:06pm
Yeah, I hear you. Chrome really is improving fast. Hopefully it will continue to improve at this pace even if it increases to surpass FF's market share. However, Opera does have a hell of a lot of good features. It takes a bit to get used to, but it is quite good. If extensions were done the same way they are in FF and Chrome in opera I'd probably use it a lot more.
Freemind2pointo
March 04, 2010 at 8:22am
Well that is just it. Opera wasn't necessarily designed to be able to have more extensions than one can
shake a stick at. It's whole purpose, especially now with "opera unite", is to be the equivalent of an unknown
form of Facebook with a light footprint that gets the job done.
With that being said however, if Opera really did want more people they should implement the extensions the same way Firefox and chrome do.
Opera user btw.
