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April 25, 2005
Peace In Our Time - Browser Wars, or: We Don't Want No Cuckoo Clock
I'm sort of getting the feeling that this is supposed to be moving day for me as well.
It's a rather weasel-ly thing to say, but I suppose I do agree with Asa Dotzler's statement that "as long as we're all moving toward an improved web experience for more browser users, I'm happy". And to be frank, it seems that that's how Opera is viewing things - that what is good for browser diversity is good for everyone (well, perhaps everyone except IE) - and certainly good for the consumer/user of the modern browser.
More cynical people might see it as spin, but I think one of the strengths of developers/employees boggling is that you get more sincerity than you ever would out of a press release, and from what I know of (the really rather long-suffering) Haavard, I'm more than willing to believe he meant what he said.
Fanboy wars are one thing, but I'd like to think any move that puts web standards more to the forefront of peoples' minds, the better. Of course Acid 2, and the way it was announced by Hakon, wasn't the friendliest way to go about things (though assuredly a PR coup), though I'm sure the tone wasn't entirely undeserved. But importantly I think that anything that goes beyond a rather playful jab at one another would be rather unbecoming between Opera and Firefox - fans included. Not that MS or IE is the enemy, but clearly Opera and Firefox would have more common cause to band together, and until MS finds a way to engage the competition constructively...
I have to admit that I've said to people that if they can't bring themselves to install Opera, to at least move to Firefox - if only so I don't have to deal with their spyware problems again/later. Of course in most those situations, I can provide the most detailed support for Opera, so most of my friends choose that rather than be left to their own devices with Firefox. Agnostic up to a point.
You know that what's coming after this is going to be me trying to enter flamebait territory and write (what will surely be my particular take) on why Opera is better - and what Firefox does better. Yes, it's that time of year again. In the mean time I'll leave you with a rather embarassing earlier post I did. Most of it is now not entirely representative of what I think now, but it serves as a reminder of humility to me, if nothing else. Opera Needs To Step Up.
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that regulated competition is good - and the people that will benefit the most are the consumers.
Posted by subtitles at April 25, 2005 6:09 AM | Opera Boggling
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