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Opera wants Microsoft to include other browsers in Windows 7
The biggest development from Microsoft in recent days has been the rumors and then official announcements regarding their plans for Internet Explorer in Windows 7. It all started when the EC looked to force Microsoft's hand in removing its browser from Windows altogether, and quickly escalated from there. After many rumors began surfacing about Microsoft's plans, the company actually confirmed that Windows 7 will ship with the ability to remove IE 8, along with numerous other stock Windows components. Media Player, Media Center, Windows Search and more will all become optional components, making Windows a much more modular OS than it has been in the past.
Those efforts, however, are apparently not enough for everyone – Opera among them. Developer of the like-named browser, Opera, has always faced an uphill battle in browser adoption, competing against IE originally and now with the very popular Firefox and the relative newcomer Chrome as well. They want to see change in Microsoft's policy, believing that more user choice would be beneficial, but apparently their wishes go well beyond just removing IE – they want Microsoft to include alternative browsers with the OS itself. Opera asserts that to really encourage “competition,” the only solution is to present users with a complete choice, adding numerous browsers as options to install by default. When asked about how Microsoft would actually implement such a feature, Opera stated that the tactical portion of that plan isn't up to them.
That's a bold statement, and one that's sure to draw some criticism. Microsoft faces a lot of legal issues with Windows already, and shipping it with other people's software right out of the box may bring even more potential problems into the mix. Some of them include having outdated versions of the browsers installed, deciding which are included and which aren't, how to ensure compatibility and more. What’s your take on the matter, should Microsoft actually include other people's browsers in Windows?
Those efforts, however, are apparently not enough for everyone – Opera among them. Developer of the like-named browser, Opera, has always faced an uphill battle in browser adoption, competing against IE originally and now with the very popular Firefox and the relative newcomer Chrome as well. They want to see change in Microsoft's policy, believing that more user choice would be beneficial, but apparently their wishes go well beyond just removing IE – they want Microsoft to include alternative browsers with the OS itself. Opera asserts that to really encourage “competition,” the only solution is to present users with a complete choice, adding numerous browsers as options to install by default. When asked about how Microsoft would actually implement such a feature, Opera stated that the tactical portion of that plan isn't up to them.
That's a bold statement, and one that's sure to draw some criticism. Microsoft faces a lot of legal issues with Windows already, and shipping it with other people's software right out of the box may bring even more potential problems into the mix. Some of them include having outdated versions of the browsers installed, deciding which are included and which aren't, how to ensure compatibility and more. What’s your take on the matter, should Microsoft actually include other people's browsers in Windows?
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User Comments (23)
Post a comment| tengeta on March 17, 2009 4:38 PM | Uhh... no. You can't just force your product into something because it isn't as popular as you want it to be. I'd punch out a cashier at a grocery store if they forced me to buy a bag of M&M's with my bread just because Mars is suffering in business, and I doubt many people would do different. This is literally just awful, I'm half tempted to delete Opera from my system.
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| mattfrompa on March 17, 2009 6:48 PM | Oh my f**k Opera I hate you even more now. I agree with
tengeta, and I'm tempted to download Opera JUST so I can
delete it. What Microsoft is doing is just fine in my
opinion. If other browsers want to take a bigger share of
the market, they should not expect their direct competition
to do their work for them. Microsoft should simply demand
that any browser that would like to be included with the
Windows 7 package should provide whichever version they want
distributed to them, and then they could be placed on a
separate CD within the package.
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| AFBlue07 on March 17, 2009 7:49 PM | What they are proposing is a bit of wishful thinking but it
wouldn't be a problem if during the setup you have an option
to just click a link and it downloads the latest version.
Can't be that hard. In a perfect world this would happen... however we are talking about Microsoft where good enough is what we usually get.
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| Misch868 on March 17, 2009 7:58 PM | Ah, OK Microsoft here's what you do: Package Windows 7 with IE8, Firefox, and Chrome. Problem solved! O shoot, I forgot to include Opera... eh, tough!
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| hamsteyr on March 17, 2009 8:00 PM | I partially lol at their statement to include other browsers
together with an installation of windows... i mean, come on,
just because opera is not getting enough market share
they're doing these sort of things? To begin with, i never really hated the fact that windows came with IE... rather i'm quite interested to see the new build of IE as well. Many people just download their own browsers anyway if they want to. I find these kind of things quite pointless, and opera has just jumped into the idiot bandwagon. heh.
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| nazartp on March 17, 2009 8:10 PM | Just desperate, I guess... These suggestions are just ridiculous. It's like forcing Coca Cola to include a Pepsi bottle in a package. Work with the OEM's to be included with the hardware, but do not force a rival company to include your product.
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| skitzo_zac on March 18, 2009 2:19 AM | I think its good that they are allowing you to disable IE in
Win 7. But making MS place another competitors browser in
its OS? Yeah thats really likely, As nazartp said you would
have to do it through OEMs. Even if you went through OEMs
most people would consider any browser included that they
are not familiar with 'bloatware' along with all the other
trial software you get from a pre-built system. I am saying this as an avid Opera user btw, but they can't really think that they are going to get their browser included in a windows installation can they?
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| unbel1ever on March 18, 2009 4:34 AM | I have good feelings to Opera as a browser, but what they
say just tempt me to remove it from my system. Luckily to
them I see no decent alternative for me at the moment.
So they'd better treat it like an opportunity not to lose customers and stop this BS. I suggest hiring some PR professionals to solve their psychological problems.
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| burty117 on March 18, 2009 5:18 AM | Most people hate apple because they won't make there OS X
Leopard for other manufacturers but yet people get all up in
arms about a company wanting to include a better browser?
you are all thinking it, IE is crap, Opera is better. Yet
your all having a go about it being included with Windows?
you should be supporting the move! forget about it being
forced. Microsoft is the leader by miles in OS sales and is
world leader. Therefore they have to expect it. and in
comment to "nazartp" pepsi and coke joke. Difference is coke
is better than pepsi. Opera is better than IE, so why not
force it to people just once so the general public can
experience a real browser? they should make it easy to
delete aswell. Say once windows is installed, you open Opera
up, don't like it and because it is the first time you have
used it. it gives you the option to delete it aftwards??
seems fare.
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| tengeta on March 18, 2009 5:38 AM | How is that acceptable to do with Opera when Microsoft was
about to get sued again for doing it with IE? Thats nothing
short of fanboyism.
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| isamuelson on March 18, 2009 7:06 AM | tengeta, your message to burty is spot on. It's amazing how
some people cried foul when Microsoft included IE in the OS
long ago, and now, Opera is trying to do the same? How hard
is it REALLY to download the stupid setup? It's not
difficult. If you can't do that, then you shouldn't even be
browsing the web. Opera's people need to chill out and so do some of the fanboys (and girls).
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| QuaZulu on March 18, 2009 7:29 AM | No way! Come on, this is totally ridiculous – being forced to include one (or all, why not add to the stupidity) your competitors in your suite simply because they want what you have? Utter foolishness (and the case of which browser is better is moot, by the way. If something is better let its users vote with their clicks)! I mean, why stop with browsers? Dictate that all office suites be included in one box (put out by Microsoft as well, I presume?), all antivirus suites, all networking software, all DVD authoring, the most successful games with the least (“because the least are better”), etc., etc. Chaos and nonsense…
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| nazartp on March 18, 2009 8:34 AM | Burty117, firstly I disagree that Coke is better than Pepsi,
but that's beside the point. No matter how much one product
is better than another, one cannot force a company to
include rival's product with their own! It should be
consumers' choice and consumers' choice only. Only the end
customer has a say in what they prefer, Pepsi or Coke, going
back to my comment. The last thing I need is for the
government to tell me what browser to use.
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| burty117 on March 18, 2009 8:37 AM | But to be fair, I work at an IT support company and trust.
About 85% of people I talk to don't have a clue about
browers or that there are otherones. Most normal home users
and quite a lot of buisness's regard IE as "the internet"
I'm saying I hope they include the other browsers so it
makes my life easyer! =)
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| burty117 on March 18, 2009 8:41 AM | Abd btw, i'm not asking for it to be forced apon anyone, I'd
just like Mircosoft to pay for all these years of having to
have IE on my computer. I don't care how it is done, I'd
like other browsers included with windows so the 97% of
people out there understand that there are other browsers.
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| Docnoq on March 18, 2009 9:50 AM | Burty, the problem is not that Microsoft includes IE with
Windows. The problem is the general population's ignorance
in regard to computers. You can't fix this by forcing
Microsoft to support its competitors. By your logic,
Microsoft should also bundle Linux with Windows, so 95% of
the people that do not even know Linux exists can try it out
instead of Windows. Also, why not have McDonald's offer you
a Whopper instead of a Big Mac so you can decide which one
you like better? My point is that this is not Microsoft's
problem to fix. If competitors want to gain more awareness
of their product or a bigger market share, they should adopt
a better marketing strategy; perhaps one that involves
educating the general population about why their browser is
"better" than IE. If Opera really wants to garner more support, they should get off their ass and do something productive instead of whining like children.
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| yukka on March 18, 2009 10:24 AM | When I bought Windows 95 (well, it came with my computer
anyway) it installed a directory of shortcuts to aol, msn
and other providers dialup. I dont see much difference between that and including a directory of shortcuts to opera, firefox, chrome and whatever other browser wants to be included. Dont include the software because changes to the terms and conditions of another companies product could have legal ramifications but you could include shortcuts to the homepages for the browser manufacturers.
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| nazartp on March 18, 2009 10:57 AM | Originally posted by yukka: When I bought
Windows 95 (well, it came with my computer anyway) it
installed a directory of shortcuts to aol, msn and other
providers dialup. I remember those times.
Annoyed me to no end, but that's exactly what should be done
- alternative vendors should work with OEMs to make sure
that their software is either included (sucks from my
perspective) or the links are provided (optimal). It should
not be Microsoft's problem. I can definitely see Microsoft
making Apple include IE in return and then running their own
smear campaign that Macs are bloated I dont see much difference between that and including a directory of shortcuts to opera, firefox, chrome and whatever other browser wants to be included. Dont include the software because changes to the terms and conditions of another companies product could have legal ramifications but you could include shortcuts to the homepages for the browser manufacturers. 
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| JDoors on March 18, 2009 1:39 PM | Originally posted by Docnoq: ... this is
not Microsoft's problem to fix. Can't add anything
useful to that.But if this is the direction courts are going to force businesses to go, then I can't wait for my next car to include radios from all the different manufacturers so I can choose the one I want to use. It's not MY fault I don't know what else is available on the market, it's not MY fault manufacturers have already installed a radio by default, it's not MY fault manufacturers have had a 'monopoly' position by supplying radios in the first place. (Now I have to go look up what happened when aftermarket audio manufacturers DID sue the car companies over this ...)
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| Burty117 on March 18, 2009 6:25 PM | Originally posted by JDoors: Originally
posted by Docnoq: Yeah but now they are all in the car
by default you can choose which one is best and use that one
=)
... this is not Microsoft's
problem to fix. Can't add anything useful to
that.But if this is the direction courts are going to force businesses to go, then I can't wait for my next car to include radios from all the different manufacturers so I can choose the one I want to use. It's not MY fault I don't know what else is available on the market, it's not MY fault manufacturers have already installed a radio by default, it's not MY fault manufacturers have had a 'monopoly' position by supplying radios in the first place. (Now I have to go look up what happened when aftermarket audio manufacturers DID sue the car companies over this ...)
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| pmshah on March 20, 2009 10:41 AM | Originally posted by tengeta: Uhh...
no. The Cashier
in this case would not be forcing you to buy M&Ms with your
loaf of bread. They would GIVE you a packet of M&M +
Cadbury's when you buy Hersheys. There is a difference !!!
You can't just force your product into something because it isn't as popular as you want it to be. I'd punch out a cashier at a grocery store if they forced me to buy a bag of M&M's with my bread just because Mars is suffering in business, and I doubt many people would do different. This is literally just awful, I'm half tempted to delete Opera from my system.
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| IanDSamson on March 20, 2009 12:01 PM | First, please get your grammar right: "its" instead of
"it's" and close quotation marks prior to period or comma,
instead of afterwards. I could not care less about these browser wars and whether Microsoft decides to remove IE or retain it. So who wants Opera in Windows 7, I do not, because Opera does not work the way I would prefer it to work. I am editing what I said deliberately because I was wrong. I was confused between Opera and Apple Safari at the time of writing. No offense meant. However, my position on Opera being slow stands. I will comment more about Opera as soon as I have tested version 9.64 in all my environments: Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP-Home, Vista Business 32, Vista Ultimate 64, Windows 7 64-bit. Having downloaded and installed, the first thing that I object to is it has included the default search engine is Yahoo. Why? This is one prime reason why I would object to Opera being included with Windows 7. As a registered Windows 7 beta tester, I have reporting access to Microsoft who "value my feedback". As part of this feedback I will include strong objection to the inclusion of Opera due to its obvious association with Yahoo. No user choice of which search engine to choose as user-default. Opera programmers or company have overstepped the mark here by forcing Opera users into choosing Yahoo as their default search engine, and this is a liberty taken too far. I totally reject this, and therefore I totally reject Opera as a browser of choice. [Edited by IanDSamson on 2009-03-20 12:17:32] [Edited by IanDSamson on 2009-03-20 12:42:28] [Edited by IanDSamson on 2009-03-20 12:58:23]
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| Docnoq on March 21, 2009 10:24 AM | Originally posted by IanDSamson: First,
please get your grammar right: "its" instead of "it's" and
close quotation marks prior to period or comma, instead of
afterwards. Actually, punctuation inside the
quotation marks is also correct. It all depends on which
method you prefer. The method you are referring to, with the
punctuation outside the quotation marks, is the "British
style" while the method that includes punctuation inside the
quotation marks is referred to as the "American style." Note
that the British style also includes punctuation inside the
quotation marks, but only if the punctuation was actually
part of the original material.
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