Opera says Microsoft “deprives consumers of a real choice”
The Norwegian company behind the web browser Opera - a long-time competitor of Internet Explorer, has filed a complaint to the European Commission regarding Microsoft’s operating system Windows and it’s bias towards the Internet Explorer browser, which fails to properly follow the accepted web standards.
More specifically, Opera claims that the way Microsoft’s Windows connects its browser Internet Explorer to web activity is illegal and “deprives consumers of a real choice” of Internet Browser. Although Microsoft have done this since Windows 98 - there is a lot more competition out there and a whole lot more money to be made. In recent times, Internet Explorer has lost a huge chunk of market share to alternative browsers:
Opera is a member of the European Committee of Interoperable Systems (ECIS) , whose lawyer Thomas Vinje said in a statement: “By tying its Internet Explorer product to its monopoly Windows operating system and refusing to faithfully implement industry accepted open standards, Microsoft deprives consumers of a real choice in Internet browsers”
Whether it will be accepted will be interesting, but it’s not likely that Microsoft will be in for another antitrust case.
Source: Press Release “Opera files antitrust complaint with the EU”
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Tags: internet-explorer, microsoft, opera, standards
