Though Microsoft has said it won't complete its ballot rollout in Europe until May, demand for Opera's rival browser has already grown, noted Opera Software Communications Manager Falguni Bhuta.

"Since the browser screen rollout, we have seen downloads of our desktop browser more than triple in major European countries such as Belgium, France, Spain, Poland and the U.K.," Bhuta said.

Increased Visibility

Microsoft's browser rivals hope to see a further rise in demand once more European PC users gain access to the choice screen. Still, there is a world of difference between the amount of software downloads and the number of users who actually adopt a browser as their preferred surfing application.

For example, the maker of the Maxthon browser boasts of 300 million downloads worldwide, yet the product barely registers a blip on the latest web metrics. However, Opera believes that once users have had a chance to try out Opera 10.50, they will quickly see the advantages -- particularly when browsing the web in bandwidth-constrained online environments.

As Bhuta points out, users will be able to set up the browser's Opera Turbo engine to dramatically cut the amount of time it takes for any web page to load. Even better, the turbo function can be set to automatically engage whenever it detects a slow network connection.

"On your browser window, on the bottom left you will see an icon that looks like a speedometer," Bhuta explained. "You click on the down-arrow key and it will give you an option to 'Configure Turbo.'"

Users clicking on this link get to choose between three different Turbo settings, Bhuta observed. Automatic enables Opera Turbo only when a slow network is detected; on optimizes pages with Opera Turbo so they load faster on slow networks; and off enables pages to load normally, he said.

Choice Limitations

Although the choice ballot is intended to enhance the visibility of browser offerings from Microsoft's rivals, some competitors are unhappy with the result. In a letter to the EC last week, the makers of the Avant, Flock, Green, Maxthon, Slim and Sleipnir browsers complained that their ballot listings are invisible unless the user scrolls sideways at the bottom of the ballot page. By contrast, the slots given to the Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera and Safari browsers are prominently displayed at all times.

Moreover, the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) -- which counts IBM, Nokia and Oracle among its members -- believes that the implementation of Microsoft's choice ballot should be extended beyond Europe. The European initiative will help spur competition, but leaves most of the world's computers with operating systems that are tied to Internet Explorer, noted Thomas Vinje, ECIS legal counsel and spokesperson.

"We call on competition authorities around the world to look closely at what has happened in Europe and to act on behalf of their consumers," Vinje said. "Only then will we get a fully competitive market that will drive intense competition to build better browsers."