Microsoft may suffer from European Opera performance

Users of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows may be surprised to learn that they have a third alternative for an internet browser beyond Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. The Opera browser has been around since 1994, a product of the Norwegian telecom industry, which claims to be an equal to the big two in speed and security. However, its use has been minuscule, around 1% by some estimates.

Now, no doubt emboldened by the recent judgment of a European Union court that found Microsoft guilty of antitrust violations for bundling its software, the Opera people have filed their own complaint with the European Commission. Opera claims that by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows, Microsoft has stifled competition. This advantage comes from both the ease with which Windows users can access IE, as well as due to its prevalence, the degree to which other software is written specifically to work with IE.

The company asks the court to require Microsoft to either exclude IE from Windows packages or include other browsers with equal access. It also asks the court to force MS to "follow fundamental and open Web standards" with other developers, rather than its own, which in Opera's words, "create a de facto standard" that results in less secure internet browsing.

Look for more companies to jump on this bandwagon while Microsoft is still vulnerable in the EU.