Following the introduction of the Choice Screen in European versions of Microsoft's operating systems, Opera Software said that it was experiencing a dramatic uptake on downloads of its latest browser, Opera 10.50. After the Choice Screen launch in early March, on average, more than half of the European downloads of Opera?s latest browser come directly from the Choice Screen, the company said.

"This confirms that when users are given a real choice on how they choose the most important piece of software on their computer, the browser, they will try out alternatives," said H?kon Wium Lie, CTO of Opera Software. "A multitude of browsers will make the Web more standardized and easier to browse."

The increase represents more than a doubling from the normal download numbers, even only after a short period with the Choice Screen. According to plan, the rollout of the Choice Screen will continue well into May for existing Windows computers and for five more years on new installations.

The following numbers are the percentages of country downloads of Opera?s latest desktop browser that originate from the Choice Screen, as part of the total Opera 10.50 numbers for desktop.



The increase percentage due to Choice Screen was found by comparing downloads from Choice Screen to all other downloads for each country. Other downloads includes downloads of new installations outside Choice Screen and manual upgrades of the 10.50 browser. Numbers were collected from Opera download statistics, over three days, March 12 - 14.