Opera: The Next Default Browser?

Sci-fi, comics, humor, photos…it’s all fair game.

August 25th, 2005 by Kelson. Posted in Opera and tagged for browser, model, Opera, revenue, Web

OperaWatch is reporting that Opera will announce a new revenue model for its desktop web browser. Naturally speculation has turned to removal of the ubiquitous ads.

But what if it’s something else entirely? My guess: They’ve made a deal with a PC manufacturer to get Opera pre-installed.

It fits with their mobile business model: Make a deal with the phone manufacturer to get Opera installed. Nokia pays for it, the end user gets a free web browser on his handheld device, and everyone’s happy. The same thing could work in the desktop space—if Opera can convince the manufacturer that it’s worth installing something other than Internet Explorer.

It’s not totally unheard-of. To pick an example, Dell will pre-install an office suite, letting you choose between WordPerfect Office and several versions of Microsoft Office. They’ll also pre-install an antivirus program, letting you choose between Norton and McAfee. Why not let you choose the browser? Dell (or whoever it is) pays Opera a discounted price, you get a free browser that’s arguably better than IE, Opera gets more exposure and more marketshare overnight—everybody wins.

Also Related

Web Advocacy

4 Responses to “Opera: The Next Default Browser?”
By David Naylor on Aug 27, 2005

Interesting thoughts… I hadn’t thought of that one. Would be great if that turns out to be true!
By Jessica on Jun 25, 2006

Opera has no to much plugins, like IE, or FF..

Greetings from Finland
By Ohio adware clean on Jan 19, 2008

Opera is an excellent browser and was voted the best top 3 browser..It is cool and has no problems and is a very reputable browser…You can use as many browsers as you like at the same time so i would say just try them for your self..You can get as many opinions as you like and one mans pro is another mans con!!