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Opera Releases "Bork" Edition

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the something-in-the-meatballs dept.

David Arnesen writes "Two weeks ago it was revealed that Microsoft's MSN portal targeted Opera users, by purposely providing them with a broken page. As a reply to MSN's treatment of its users, Opera Software today released a very special Bork edition of its Opera 7 for Windows browser. The Bork edition behaves differently on one Web site: MSN. Users accessing the MSN site will see the page transformed into the language of the famous Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show: Bork, Bork, Bork! Here you can find the press release and download link!"

5 of 636 comments (clear)

  1. I love this by TwistedKestrel · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wish far more companies would respond like this, instead of instantly suing each other until one of them dies a bitter death.

    1. Re:I love this by Corrado · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Amen to that!!!

      This seems like a much more reasonable alternative to litigation. It's funny and it gets the point across. Another possible "solution" would be to mung up the browser id tag whenever you go to MSN (but they would probably work around that pretty quickly).

      Please somebody grab a screenshot and share!!! :)

      --
      KangarooBox - We make IT simple!
    2. Re:I love this by howcoome · · Score: 5, Interesting

      We have an office in Sweden, and besides, it was just a bit of fun.

      Microsoft were not trying to fix layout bugs in Opera 6 - there weren't any. Also, we contacted them several times requesting them to fix their site so it displayed properly in Opera 7. They had done nothing about it until today.

      Håkon Wium Lie
      CTO, Opera Software

  2. My treat! by JediTrainer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I am proud and privileged to have been a part of this. I got an email from Hakon just a few days ago, asking if they could use my JavaScript encheferizer (ported from someone else's Java version) on "one of their pages". I had no idea what they intended to do with it, but nevertheless said sure! No problem.

    I'm rolling on the floor laughing my ass off now! Haha! You're my heroes!

    --

    You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
  3. Exactly by Bilbo · · Score: 4, Interesting
    > I'm not an Opera user, and I'm now aware of the problem!

    Exactly. And with a stunt like this, I would be very surprised if it doesn't find it's way to some of the larger "mainline" media sites.

    Also, I have a feeling that Microsoft itself will react pretty quickly. The technical "trick" they played was pretty simple-minded, not unlike the "Swicher" add that was mentioned in another article here. Microsoft caught some major flack for that one, after some Slashdot folks discovered that the anonymous switcher was really an employee of the advertising company that was doing the add. I have a feeling some people got canned for that little stunt. Besides, there probably are some Opera users who reakky do need to get to stuff on MSN, and hopefully, now their pages won't be broken.

    In the end, it's another black eye for Microsoft. It won't make much difference in the short run, but who knows what effect this will have in the long term?

    (Well, for one, I just downloaded the latest free version of Opera on my Linux box, and may end up paying for the commercial version if I like it better than Galeon. I'm probably not the only one who did this because of this article...)

    --
    Your Servant, B. Baggins