Microsoft losing ground to growing European Opera trend
Oslo, Norway – Feb. 12, 2002
Opera Software ASA today released Opera 6.01 for Windows along with the new Opera Composer, amid news that Opera is quickly gaining ground in Europe. In addition to enhancements in the browser, Opera 6.01 for Windows introduces a Lycos start-up page especially made for Opera users.
According to StatMarket, usage of Opera is soaring in several European countries. Germany, the Scandinavian countries and Russia are leading the pack, the latter with a whopping 5.8 percent market share for Opera.
“The StatMarket numbers were made public just five days after the release of Opera 6, and this positive trend has accelerated considerably during the last month,” says Dean Kakridas, VP Desktop Products. “We are seeing the beginning of a great continental divide emerging between European and American Internet users. In Europe, Opera is the fashionable trend among Web connoisseurs, while the US seem to be a bit slower in catching on.”
Opera 6 for Windows is the first Windows version that also displays non-Roman characters, opening up the markets in Asia and Eastern Europe to browser competition.
“Concurrent with the European wave, Asia has greeted Opera with great enthusiasm,” continues Dean Kakridas, VP Desktop Products. “Particularly, the Japanese have been eager to try Opera, and we expect this trend to accelerate exponentially in the rest of Asia when we release more local language versions for these markets in the coming weeks.”
“In a way Opera has now come full circle,” says Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO. “After having grabbed the dominant position in the embedded browser market, we are now also gaining ground where we started to fight Microsoft: on every user’s PC. For the first time since the beginnning of the Browser War, Microsoft is losing ground. Microsoft has seen this coming for a while, as evidenced by its recent lockout of other browsers to its Web properties, but I can assure everyone in Redmond that they’ve seen nothing yet.”
Complete changelog for Opera 6.01 for Windows.
Download Opera 6.01 for Windows.
The new Opera Composer lets users customize their own Web browser to distribute to family, friends, colleagues and customers. Users can set multiple or single document interface (MDI/SDI), customize the splash screen, skins, Personal Bar and Hotlist as well as extra buttons for own service, and choose language.
Everyone can customize their own browser today with the Opera Composer.
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About Opera Software
Opera Software ASA is an industry leader in the development of Web browsers for the desktop and device markets, partnering with companies such as IBM, AMD, Symbian, Canal+ Technologies, Ericsson, Sharp and Lineo. The Opera browser has received international recognition from end-users and the industry press for being faster, smaller and more standards-compliant than other browsers. Opera is available on Windows, Mac, Linux/Solaris, Symbian OS, and QNX. Opera Software ASA is a privately held company headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Learn more about Opera at www.opera.com.