Opera doubles download numbers after Windows Choice Screen rollout

Posted on 18 Mar 2010 at 15:48

Opera Software has announced that it has experienced "a dramatic uptake" in the amount of users downloading its Opera web browser, following the introduction of Microsoft's Choice Screen in Windows.

The Choice Screen was introduced in early March as a resolution to Microsoft's long-standing dispute with the European Competition Commission over anti-competitive practices in the web browser market.

Since its introduction, Opera says that "more than half" of all European downloads for its web browser come directly from the Choice Screen.

"This confirms that when users are given a real choice on how they choose the most important piece of software on their computer, the browser, they will try out alternatives," said Hakon Wium Lie, CTO of Opera. "A multitude of browsers will make the web more standardised and easier to browse."

Across Europe, Opera saw sizeable increases with the average increase standing at 130 per cent. As a percentage of the total downloads Opera has had since the Choice Screen's introduction, the company reports that the Choice Screen is responsible for 53 per cent of all downloads across the continent.

In the UK, the results weren't quite as impressive, with an 85 per cent increase in downloads, with Choice Screen downloads amounting to 46 per cent of all Opera 10.50 downloads. Of course, it'll be interesting to see how the Choice Screen changes the browser landscape in terms of market share, but if Mozilla and Google see similar increases, we could see Internet Explorer's share evaporate quite quickly.

Author: Tim Smalley

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