Microsoft buys Opera - Here's Why (it would have made sense)

Michael Gartenberg | December 23, 2005, 08:31 AM

Update - The Opera folks are saying this isn't correct and there's no deal. I should have been more skeptical, it's something we would likely have been briefed on if it were true.

Thought it was going to be a quiet day, but it doesn't seem that way at all. First up arereports that Microsoft has bought Opera.

Opera has been around for a while and they've done some excellent work in the mobile space on both Series 60, Windows Mobile and Java platforms. They're desktop version is top notch as well. Problem is, the browser business is a tough place to be as a commercial operation. This is a good move for the folks at Opera. For Microsoft, it's a very good move. It gives them some excellent technologies they can incorporate into IE and that can help server them well in their battles with Firefox. It also boosts their mobile technologies a great deal. There's no doubt that Opera on WM 5 is a far better browser experience and it also allows Microsoft to push IE down to other phone platforms via the Java version of Opera Mini. That will allow them an entry into mobile search and location based services on phones that don't run WM 5 but can potentially be used to drive folks to Microsoft's online services. Finally, it keeps Opera away from Google, which might have had similar plans to use the technology in just that way. Buying Opera would have made it far easier for Google to launch a branded browsing experience on multiple platforms, including mobile simulataneously. Overall, a good deal for both parties that will set the stage for a lot more interesting stuff coming in 2006.