Random Thoughts of Mine...

Microsoft fans call for Opera boycott
Don't pick on little ol' Redmond

Windows enthusiast site JCXP.net is asking fellow fans to delete the Opera web browser from PCs and devices in an act of solidarity against European antitrust action.

"Today we are proposing a complete boycott of all Opera software," David Taraso, editor of the JCXP group, wrote in a blog post late on Friday. Taraso blames Opera Software for goading European regulators into a regulatory showdown with Microsoft.

The European Commission filed antitrust charges in January alleging Microsoft unfairly stifles competition by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows. The investigation was spurred by a 2007 complaint from Opera Software, maker of a rival web browser and long-time outspoken critic of Microsoft's dominance. Although the lawsuit was later joined by Google and Mozilla, Taraso blames Opera as the instigator.

The plot thickened in the EU case on Thursday, when Microsoft said it would ship the upcoming Windows 7 operating system in Europe without Internet Explorer, in an apparent attempt to preempt antitrust measures. The EU hastily rejected Microsoft's response as inadequate, with Opera jeering at the sidelines.

"This is absolutely nothing more than a company who can't legitimately gain market share trying to squeeze their unpopular browser onto Windows systems," Taraso wrote. "Opera is simply upset because their browser is dead last in market share, and has already been surpassed by the recent released Google Chrome browser and Apple's Safari browser for Windows."

Read the rest of the article here.

I, for one, will not be boycotting Opera! As many of you know, Opera Software is working to take the web back to the old days. I might try that feature out when Opera 10 comes out. Back to the EU/Microsoft case; Lanc Ulanoff wishes that the EU will just leave Microsoft alone already.




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I tried doing this post before, but the stupid Opera server ate it before I could even save it to notes So here I go again.

Recently, Firefox 2 and Internet Explorer (it should instead be called Insecure Explorer) 7 were released by the Mozilla Foundation & Microsoft, respectively. I have found some reviews comparing them both from PC World & from CNET. PC Magazine compares Opera 9, FF 2 and IE 7 here. Here's a PC World Techblog post about those browsers.

I first heard about Firefox from a PC World magazine article. I decided to try it out and downloaded it (this was when the browswer was called Firebird). I tried it and loved it. Later I heard about Opera from a PC World magazine article. When Opera had it's 10th anniversary party, I downloaded it then (this was when Opera was charging for the browswer and offered it free for a limited time). Opera is a great browswer also. FF is the fastest browswer, followed by Opera, then finally, IE. Some people have said that FF is a resource hog, but that is not the case with my experience. FF hardly uses any resources on my PC, but Opera is a resource hog though. It does slow my PC down, so that is why I browse with FF alot more than I do with Opera. I use IE as a last resort. Eventually I will download both of them and try them out, but will still hardly use IE. You know how Microsoft copies off of others, and is slow to patch vulnerabilities in their software. IE 7 already has 2 vulnerabilities: Windows Injection & Redirection Information Disclosure. Microsoft tried to play catch-up with Opera & Firefox, but they are still behind. Maybe in another 5 years they will try and fail again


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