Windows enthusiasts launch 'Boycott Opera' campaign
Summary: The JCXP.Net Windows enthusiast site has launched a "Boycott Opera" campaign aimed at users who are unhappy over Opera's antitrust suit against Microsoft.
The JCXP.Net Windows enthusiast site has launched a "Boycott Opera" campaign aimed at users who are unhappy over Opera's antitrust suit against Microsoft.
It was Opera's 2007 antitrust complaint that mushroomed into the current antitrust case in the European Union over Microsoft's browser-bundling policies.
JCXP announced its boycott campaign on June 12. In a blog post, JCXP Managing Editor David Taraso announced the proposed boycott, attributing it to Opera's decision to sue Microsoft for antitrust. He said:
"Today, we are proposing a complete boycott of all Opera software.
"This is absolutely nothing more than a company, who can't legitimately gain market share, trying to squeeze their unpopular browser onto Windows systems.Opera is simply upset because their browser is dead last in market share, and has already been surpassed by the recently released Google Chrome browser and Apple's Safari browser for Windows."
In a second post, on June 14, Taraso spelled out more directly the reasons he is pushing the boycott:
"I would like to make one thing clear though. I don't hate Opera and I don't hate their browser (Opera 9 was my main browser for most of 2008). Opera has introduced many fantastic innovations to the browser market over the years, and I applaud them for that. But I don't agree with what they are trying to do here. I definitely agree that Opera should have a larger market share, but not by forcing Microsoft to advertise their product in Windows."
Last week, word was circulating that the European Commission was considering as one remedy in the case the inclusion by PC makers of a "ballot screen" that would require users to choose a browser for their Windows PCs at startup. Microsoft, trying to head off the ballot-screen remedy, announced last week plans to ship Windows 7 in European without Internet Explorer 8 bundled into it. Opera officials said they considered Microsoft's Windows 7 E plan to be an inadequate response to their concerns.
What's your take? Is an Opera boycott the best way for those who believe Microsoft should be allowed to integrate IE into Windows to make their views known?
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Talkback
What is a "Windows Enthusiast"?
Can anyone explain this to me?
Hans
I noticed something....
Why is that?
Yeah, ok, Apple too, along with Microsoft.
Hans
Follow the money trail
Want to back up....
Microsoft routinely pays for PR
http://chronicle.com/data/articles.dir/art-44.dir/issue-
33.dir/33a03001.htm
I'm not saying it's wrong, just don't pretend it doesn't happen.
Look at ZDNet... another great example. :-)
Same here
I use them happily and can't recommend them enough. Why? Because they work or at least have dedicate infrastructure to get fixed.
I'm really growing tired of anti-Microsoft people claiming the only people who promote MS products are paid "shills". Excuse me, but I and millions of others use Microsoft products not because we are forced to but because they work, we've grown up with them and don't really care to switch so stop bashing us for using them.
Whatever
I use it because I'm forced to use it through my employer. It's a necessity that I can live with since they're paying me for it, but I have no great love for monopolies or people who aren't willing to consider other possibilities.
Same song, different singer.
When people are conditioned in a comfort zone...
...then they'll never make a go of it on their own...
You're right. Good analogy, here. If that's what you meant.
Too many assumtions...
lacks competitors... in fact it doesn't even
have to be that successful to be a monopoly.
How is it a companies fault if it doesn't have
competitors? Only if they've killed the other
companies through ILLEGAL anti-competitive
techniques. Any practice that results in the
lost market of a competitor is considered by
some to be anti-competitive. So essentially
there are many in this world who just don't
like successful companies, cause successful
companies take most of the market share. Now...
Microsoft is NOT a monopoly, cause they have
LOT'S of competition.
I as well as many others regularly try other
OS's looking for better products. I'm glad we
have virtual machines now cause that doesn't
mean I have to keep a separate partition where
I can only test 1 OS at a time. These are the
OS's I'm testing at the moment (I have not
standardized testing, I just use them on
occasion, if I find myself not using one I get
rid of it.)
BeOS
DexOS
Fendora 10
FreeDos (for nostalgia sake)
Google Andriod
Ubuntu
MenuetOS
Moblin 2
OpenSolaris
ReactOS
Windows 1.0 (for nostalgia sake)
Windows 3.1 (for nostalgia sake)
Windows 98 (for nostalgia sake)
Windows 7
Asside from windows 7 I have yet to find one
that I really like. Some of my friends think I
am biased. Of course cause of the shorter
learning curve, already being familiar with
previous windows versions, this is the truth.
But that is the only reason. I have actually
used Linux more than Windows 7 cause I'm more
interested in finding a copy of Linux I really
like.
I just like Windows best so far.
I find many "Windows enthusiasts" has a similar
attitude.
(SO THERE!) *sticks out tongue childishly*
Leave Apple Out Of This
I think it does.
Hans
Give us an example of Apple paying for PR
freebies away at conferences, etc... sure, but Microsoft actually pays
people to write favorable things about them.
http://chronicle.com/data/articles.dir/art-44.dir/issue-
33.dir/33a03001.htm
Other companies (including all the ones you mentioned) do not do this.
Apple's marketing budget in 2008 was $486M
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/21/yup-apples-advertising-budget-is-bigger-than-microsoft-vistas/
Don't be so naive - Apple, like Microsoft is a for-profit Corporation. Like Microsoft, Apple has a duty to its shareholders to generate profits. The only way companies do this is by making more money than they spend. In order to make money, you have to advertize, market, schmooze, wine, dine and flatter anyone who will write/say something nice about you or your products.
I'm not sure why you want me to do that.
Hans
Uh... Turn on your TV...
You might also want to visit CES or one of the other trade shows. Just count the number of bags you can pick up, full of near useless crap with corporate logos emblazoned on them. On rare occasions, you might get something somewhat useful from the booth babes - a pen, a USB stick drive, a small notepad, a calculator...
I'm sure Apple has their own line of stuff they give out as well. They're really no different than IBM, Microsoft, Dell, HP, or any of the other bazillion or so exhibitors that show up at these shows.
Eum... Product placement anyone?
Think about that for a second...
Product placement in tv shows is an ENORMOUS part of advertisement. In some cases even more expensive then actuall advertisement during commercial brakes between shows.
Apple is actually KNOWN for their marketing and PR departments. Much more then for their actual products.
Seen an Apple logo lately?
Guess what! They paid for it!
Apple has, and has had, employees - for those who have difficulty with concepts, that means Apple pays their salaries - who do nothing but write good things about Apple.
examples
they don't generally pay or even discount for most of the promos other companies run using their product. they do however keep 'shells' of their product available to be used in product placement in films / tv etc. so this is true .. they generally don't pay for product placement .. people just want to use their prod's in this way.
they do however, have an 'ambassador' program where folks (generally celeb's) are paid and supplied free product to promote their wares. Of course, Apple also have a huge marketing effort and hordes of PR professionals working for them directly so it's quite naive to think they don't pay for PR. it's their oxygen ..