RSSMicrosoft Not Acquiring Opera
By Nate Mook | Published December 23, 2005, 11:48 AM
Despite a recommendation by infamous tech pundit John C. Dvorak and rumors of a near-complete deal, Opera Software on Friday said it was not being acquired by Microsoft. Opera also says a rumor last week that Google was an interested suitor is just as false. But that hasn't stopped a barrage of opinions.
"This is a good move for the folks at Opera. For Microsoft, it's a very good move," said Jupiter Research vice president Michael Gartenberg before the clarification from Opera. "It gives them some excellent technologies they can incorporate into IE and that can help serve them well in their battles with Firefox."
"It also boosts their mobile technologies a great deal. There's no doubt that Opera on WM 5 is a far better browser experience and it also allows Microsoft to push IE down to other phone platforms via the Java version of Opera Mini," Gartenberg added. "Finally, it keeps Opera away from Google, which might have had similar plans to use the technology in just that way."
However, even though Opera says it has received no offers, fellow Jupiter analyst Joe Wilcox notes the browser space is heating up quick.
"There is plenty of talk about Microsoft competing with Google or even AOL and Yahoo. But the real competitor is elsewhere. The big advertising spending goes into the offline bucket, such as television. But more of that money is beginning to trickle into the online bucket," explained Wilcox. "Microsoft and Google competition or even the AOL and Google deal really is about jockeying to get in front of the line with buckets outstretched to catch those dollars as they move online."
Opera, which turned freeware in September, has been struggling to get past a 1 percent market share. Its browsing technology has been touted as one of the best, but users continue to stick with Internet Explorer and newcomer Firefox, sparking rumors that Opera may be looking for an exit strategy.
And Wilcox says it wouldn't be surprising that Microsoft is interested. "The browser is one the major means by which online advertising will reach consumer. Where there's money to be made, there's fire. And browser competition is red hot."
"[...] sparking rumors that Opera may be looking for an exit strategy."
Sure, Opera is in deep trouble. That must why the market value of Opera Software ASA by the end of the year is 250% of what it was by the beginning, and has about twice as many employees by the end of the year than at the beginning, and why the revenues are increasing nicely every year.
[http://www.infront-web.net/html/iwt.dll/chart?ticker=OPERA&period=365]
[http://opera.com/company/investors/finance/statements/income/]
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opera has the same concept as ms
no opne source and no messing with the code for external program
For instance
People has asked for roboform support in opera but opera devs just plain refuse to add support for it.
It works in ie and firefox but nope not in opera.
otherwise its a smoth web browser no complains there.
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This sucks. Any way you slice it I hear a far-off tapps being played for Opera browser. Geeze! I love using Opera. It's just so well thought out and solid.
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I wonder if M$ has ever heard of the saying "If you carn'y beat erm then join them"
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Microsoft will buy Maxthon once they see the "crappy in comparison" IE7 ain't good enough to stop the stampede toward Firefox.
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Good. I hope microsoft stays as far away from opera and firefox as possible. WE dont need another IE on our hand so they can just screw that up and make it as mad.
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Ya know, I'm beginning to wonder...
If Microsoft aquired Opera, then wouldn't they use it's technology to replace IE? Then we'll have a useable browser installed with Windows.
but it's just thought anyway. I hope it doesn't ever happen.
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I don't believe its a good idea for either Google or Microsoft to ivest in/take over Opera. Microsoft and Mozilla are competing just fine and Opera is giving them both balanced and on their toes. As for Google, they're already heavily "invested" in Mozilla through several of its employees, so Google needs to focus on Mozilla, if any.
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"Opera is giving them both balanced and on their toes."
They can barely even be considered a player...there are IE derivitivees that get more market-share than Opera...
I'm not saying it's a bad browser...many great programs and operating systems get left in the dust for a myriad of reasons. I'm simply saying, from a competition standpoint, on the desktop at least, Opera is a virtual non-entity.
I'd be more likely to believe Google would buy 'em before MS...of course, that's not saying MS wouldn't make a bid just to raise the price for Google a bit.
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>> of course, that's not saying MS wouldn't make a bid just to raise the price for Google a bit.
Haha, so true!
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Opera is, perhaps, the best browser on the market IMO.
But, take Opera out of the battle, and your only going to see a two way war. Microsoft verse Mozilla. MS would win, cause of the more money they had IMO. I agree, that Mozilla used to make better software, but recently, IE and Firefox have lost many features. I wonder if Outlook express is going to be included with IE7... Hope so.
Firefox should include thunderbird.
and I'm slightly off topic :P
"I'm not saying it's a bad browser...many great programs and operating systems get left in the dust for a myriad of reasons. I'm simply saying, from a competition standpoint, on the desktop at least, Opera is a virtual non-entity."
Microsoft and Mozilla need to be careful of Opera, It has a market share, there is no doubt about that.... Opera does have the power to leave them for dust. Me? Whenever I meet someone using IE, I recommend Opera. Everyone that I've recommended has loved it. Why? Skinnable. It's one windows, not twentymillion like IE and FF (FF's tabbed Window system is incomplete). Plus, I for one, can't like without the Opera Wand, Opera Mail, Opera Chat, or the built in (not external like FF and IE) download page
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I dunno about you, but I hate how closely tied Google is to the Firefox browser. I should see the Mozilla.org site when I open it, not Google.com
Same with IE, I wanna see microsoft.com
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"Microsoft and Mozilla need to be careful of Opera, It has a market share, there is no doubt about that.... Opera does have the power to leave them for dust."
That's just too funny.
You are being overly optimistic and hopefull, which is not bad in and of itself, but not everyone sees the world through your rose-colored glasses.
There's absolutely nothing but your anecdotal claims to back it up. It may have market-share, but as I stated, it is not anywhere near enough to cause a blip in the radar.
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I Agree.
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It's enough to worry Microsoft, I know that.
Microsoft is losing plenty of users to both Opera and Mozilla all the time. But Opera, at least, is a good browser... it works almost exactly the same way, regardless of OS.
I haven't used FF for a while, but I remember being annoyed at it for some differences between the two versions of it.
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When I open my web browser I want to see a useful website. Not microsoft.com or mozilla.org.
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Microsoft.com and mozilla.org are more useful then google.com
but if you don't like it, change it. They should point towards their homepage to start with (Opera does!), but make it easy to change it if you wnat (all three do!)
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LOL... I use Google to search inside Microsoft, you get the picture don't?
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I don't even use Microsoft.com ;)
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I just use micro$oft.com for:
1) When I want to test a connection downloading some big file (their servers are FAST and their Service packs huge, and useless)
2) When I want to confuse myself reading bulsh*t
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Hear, hear!
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It's about 250mb for SP2, isn't it? Last I heard anyway.
Your quite right through, SP2 is totally useless. It doesn't do anything except limit what SP2 users can do.
"2) When I want to confuse myself reading bulsh*t"
Some of the stuff on there has a bit of worth... Not much through.
But, IMO... all browsers should point to their homepages (http://www.microsoft.com/ie http://www.opera.com http://www.mozilla.org) when their first installed. It's not hard to change it to google, MSN or Yahoo, but a search engine isn't as useful to my browsing experience as the browser's site/page is. If they point to the site, I can easily check for a new version every time I start it. (or middle click the home button in Opera and FF)
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I will call a spade a spade. I consider John Dvorak an idiot. Almost all his "news" are badly-researched and inflammatory. I wonder why PC Mag let him publish. He is a bizarre rumour generator, nothing more.
I doubt if Opera can be acquired by Microsoft due to regulations in the EU that prevent monopoly (or strenghten monopoly).
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Strangely enough, your post is just as inflammatory, and somehow you miss the point that his New Years predictions for the past several years came true eventually. So say again, who is the idiot here?
Don't misunderstand me, I disagree with his opinions and viewpoints on several matters, but then again, I'm entitled to be just as wrong as everyone else, so I refuse to call a man who usually ends up right an idiot.
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Dvorak may not be an idiot, but he has written some idiotic columns-- & PCMag is no more a tech authority(if it ever was one), but a commercial rag/shill...nothing wrong with that, btw.
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Given that they're a partner with the folks who build maxthon, why would they need Opera anyway? And guess what IE7 is going to look like?
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Opera or FF with an IE skin?
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One is a Lada trying to pretend to be a BMW and the other is a full-sized Caddy stuffed into a Mazda 3 form factor.
In short, I hope it's neither.
Personally I've observed Opera is getting too chunky but funky as it tries to be all things to all people. It's geting to the point that all Swiss Army Knives of software eventually get to and that's not good.
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And here I was expecting a flame response. How disappointing. ;)
Yeah, Opera appears to be headed down that same dark path. This is where I think considering an extension framework might help them quite a bit.
The more they add to the browser, the more it becomes 'just another browser'. If they strip it down to it's lean, fast, powerful bones and leave the rest to an equally lean and fast extension format it *can* be all things to all users without sacrificing too much.
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You mean, like how Mozilla stuffed up firefox?
If it isn't included in a browser, I don't want it.
I don't want to search all over the internet after EVERY install just to find some rare extension. and Firefox and thunderbird do make it hell to back up your datafiles
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"Rumor Not True!"
*gasp*
Yeah, not like that ever happens.
Anyone who actually takes anything Dvorak writes with any kind of seioursness needs to be shot. The guy's a complete hack.
I heard a rumor the other day that Sun was going to buy Google and Amazon.Com. Can we get a story today about that? And how about another tomorrow with comments from Sun, Google, Amazon, and various pundits saying it's untrue?
I mean...if you can't find the news...make it, right?
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today I agree with You, I'd first heard/read about Dvorak 6 years ago...but I never found any Expert in him.
I wonder he is such RECOGNIZED person, really, I read thousands of better IT studies from other and better insight authors.
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Ages ago, he was actually quite lucid. Within the past number of years he has unfortunately descended into unforned rumor-mongering and sensationalist hit-seeking propaganda.
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Rumor-monger? Often... He does like to speculate. Sensationalist? Absolutely! It's how captures attention. Propaganda? No way, sorry, not even close. Propaganda is, "Material disseminated by the advocates or opponents of a doctrine or cause." John does not have any exclusive ties to any cause or company other than himself.
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Read my comment:
"hit-seeking".
Cause. (I.e, himself, exactly. The Great Dvorak)
Thanks for playing.
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