Microsoft to Buy Opera

[theyarecomingforyou]

I came into this thread thinking it was too good to be true, and left proven right.

[Techno_Funky]

Pure BS !!!! Mr.Jon is NO WAY gonna sell his baby

his creation i.e

rip your eyes offa Opera you Big corps :crazy:

[reinholder]

its hard to believe, because the truth of it is that the sale would never get past the monopolies comission; as well as this, why the devil would they develop IE7 just to turn around and buy opera? makes no sense. I'm really more likely to believe microsoft buying symantec than this

[Rob Veteran]

as well as this, why the devil would they develop IE7 just to turn around and buy opera? makes no sense.

It actually makes a lot of sense, however untrue this particular news story is.

If MS bought Opera they would

1) Effectively reduce the browser wars to Microsoft and Mozilla

2) As Hurmoth said, show Mozilla it was serious about stopping it further eating into MS' share of the market

2) Inherit the mobile browser technology pioneered by Opera

Buying Opera wouldn't mean they'd have to use it - Microsoft's business in the past has included several "buying the competition" operations simply to get them out the market.

So, while this story is complete BS, it would make a lot of sense for MS to buy Opera.

[Ironman273]

I'd look into that AOL and Google deal a little closer. Google is pretty much screwed by doing that. Google will now have flashy AOL ads all over the site which is known for being nice and clean. That's one reason why soo many people like Google. People are going to stop using Google when that happens.

You have it backwards. Their plan is to have Google ads on AOL. Searches done on AOL will be Google powered and so Google will make money from the Google ads.

[reinholder]

It actually makes a lot of sense, however untrue this particular news story is.

If MS bought Opera they would

1) Effectively reduce the browser wars to Microsoft and Mozilla

2) As Hurmoth said, show Mozilla it was serious about stopping it further eating into MS' share of the market

2) Inherit the mobile browser technology pioneered by Opera

Buying Opera wouldn't mean they'd have to use it - Microsoft's business in the past has included several "buying the competition" operations simply to get them out the market.

So, while this story is complete BS, it would make a lot of sense for MS to buy Opera.

yes and no - if you've noticed, alot of their business acquisitions lately have been to integrate that technology into vista. companies like foldershare, for example. I honestly don't think Microsoft see Mozilla as competition, as the last time I used it (1.0.4), it was prone to more crashing than IE anyway. and don't get me started on netscape

[Rob Veteran]

yes and no - if you've noticed, alot of their business acquisitions lately have been to integrate that technology into vista. companies like foldershare, for example. I honestly don't think Microsoft see Mozilla as competition, as the last time I used it (1.0.4), it was prone to more crashing than IE anyway. and don't get me started on netscape

Of course, many business acquisitions are to integrate products and services... but many are also just to get competition out the way.

As for Microsoft not seeing Mozilla as competition... they've publically admitted that it is competition and that they embrace that as it drives innovation. They had already said they weren't making another standalone version of IE, until Firefox started gaining ground which was the main catalyst in restarting development. Check out the Internet Explorer development blog, it's a good read, and highlights some of the areas where they've noticed the good things in the alternative browsers and added them to their own.

You have it backwards. Their plan is to have Google ads on AOL. Searches done on AOL will be Google powered and so Google will make money from the Google ads.

Absolutely - check out the latest Google Blog post which clears up some of the rumours about the new partnership meaning Google will have AOL flash ads all over its homepage:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/abo...nouncement.html

Edited December 23, 2005 by Rob

[acido00]

EXCELENT!

i think Opera is down.. Firefox like more :)

[Techno_Funky]

Opera Denies Microsoft takeover rumours

Matt Loney

ZDNet UK

December 23, 2005, 13:10 GMT

As the phones ring off the hook at Opera, the browser vendor insists rumours that Microsoft is buying it out are unfounded

Opera on Friday denied the latest takeover rumour spreading round the Internet, saying that it has not had any approaches from Microsoft or anyone else.

Rumours surfaced on Friday morning that Microsoft is close to completing a takeover offer for the Norwegian browser vendor, having outbid Google.

"Our phones have been ringing off the hook," said a spokesman for Opera. "But it's not true. We have not been bought, and we have not received any offers. It's just a rumour, like the Google rumour last week."

If Microsoft were to buy Opera it would effectively reduce the battle for browsers on Windows PCs to two contenders: Microsoft and the Mozilla Foundation.

Although Opera's market share has languished at less than 1 percent, compared to Firefox's 7.55 percent and IE's 86.9 percent, Opera's mobile browser is installed on a growing number of mobile devices, and the company says that downloads of its desktop browser quadrupled after it launched the free version 8.5 in October.

Source:ZdNet UK

:bounce:

[kampioen]

check this out this will confirm its bull****.

[Mx]

I'd personally love to see the expertise of Opera working with the IE team. Would be an intesting mix. Seeing Opera are innovators in the browser market with all their features, mouse gestures, etc, would be interesting to see the two work. But obviously this'll never happen.

Edited December 23, 2005 by Mx

[Toxicfume Veteran]

I doubt it's true at all, and I hope it isn't!

[Nightwind Hawk]

It isn't true... look at the article, it has an update saying that Opera confirmed there was nothing.

[Dark_INk]

And so Microsoft has been working so hard on IE 7...why?

This doesn't make sense, I smell BS.

aol balances 2 browsers

[Julius Caro]

And so Microsoft has been working so hard on IE 7...why?

This doesn't make sense, I smell BS.

Yeah... working "hard" :p

[webeagle12]

oh hell no!!!!

I dont want Active crap in opera :no: :no: :no:

[viciv]

It isn't true... look at the article, it has an update saying that Opera confirmed there was nothing.

good news :laugh:

[Barney T. Administrators]

As with the other thread on this subject.... no. :no:

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/applicati...39243639,00.htm

Barney

[Mosqutus]

can't see this happening

[howb21]

If this story is true, it only means even Microsoft themselves are giving up on IE. They resorted to buying Opera, which also gains Bill Gates a share of the pie in the mobile browsing market.

On a personal note however, I hope this story ain't true, because I am an Opera user and I love it the way it is and if it falls into the hands of the same IE team......

[fragmore]

CoolTechZone

"Update: Opera recently confirmed that Microsoft has not approached the browser maker and there is no active acquistion deal between the two companies currently."

What a bunch of ######.

[Veedems Veteran]

in order to prevent further spread of this misinformation...

thread closed