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Microsoft Giving Rival Browsers a Lift

Posted by kdawson on from the thanks-for-the-add dept.

gollum123 tips an article at the NY Times on the progress of the European Windows browser choice screen that we have been discussing recently. "Rivals of Microsoft's market-leading Web browser have attracted a flurry of interest since the company, fulfilling a regulatory requirement, started making it easier for European users of its Windows operating system to switch. Mozilla, whose Firefox browser is the strongest competitor to Microsoft's Internet Explorer worldwide, said that more than 50,000 people had downloaded Firefox via a 'choice screen' that has been popping up on Windows-equipped computers in Europe since the end of last month. ... Opera Software, based in Oslo, said downloads of its browser in Belgium, France, Britain, Poland, and Spain had tripled since the screen began to appear. Microsoft said it was too early to tell whether the choice screen might prompt significant numbers of users to change. The digital ballot is being delivered over the Internet with software updates, and it is expected to take until mid-May to complete the process. The browser choice will also be presented to buyers of new Windows computers across the European Union for five years."

2 of 272 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Opera with or without ads? by SCVirus · · Score: 5, Informative

    Opera hasn't had ads for years. It is totally free as in beer.

    September 20, 2005
    Opera Software today permanently removed the ad banner and licensing fee from its award-winning Web browser.

  2. BTW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The script on that page uses a proper shuffle algorithm now (Fisher-Yates/Durstenfeld). If the page is viewed without Javascript, the order is fixed though, with IE being in the leftmost spot...