Opera Downloads Increase with Introduction of Microsoft Browser Selection Screen

Category: Software
Posted: March 18, 2010 01:36PM
Author: jammin

After pressure from the European Union last year, Microsoft agreed to introduce a ballot screen that would allow users to make a choice to install a number of different browsers. Regulators had made the argument that having Internet Explorer pre-installed on Windows PCs amounted to anti-competitive practice. Microsoft began offering the browser selection option through Windows Update from March 1st in Europe, which gives users a choice from a list of 12 browsers. The alternatives that are being given most prominence are Safari, Opera, Firefox and Chrome (users have to side scroll to see more options).

While it may seem obvious to many of us that there are a number of browsers available that offer good alternatives to IE, less savvy users may not be aware that they have an option at all. The makers of the Opera web browser have now reported that the number of downloads of its software has risen significantly since the introduction of the browser ballot screen. It says that downloads since March 1st have doubled, with Poland being a good example of how effective the ballot screen has been. A large proportion (77%) of Opera downloads in the country have come from the choice screen. Other countries have shown similar trends.

The continued erosion of Internet Explorer's share of the browser market has lead to a healthy competition between competing products and has seen browser development progress by leaps and bounds. The development of IE itself has become a stronger focus for MS as a result, as is evidenced by the recent platform preview of IE9. All this means that users are more likely to be running an up to date and standards compliant browser than ever before, which can't be a bad thing.

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