Opera Software claims the growth of Internet Explorer's share of the install base has halted for the first time, facing stiff competition from its own browser on the continent.
"For the first time since the beginning of the browser war, Microsoft is losing ground," said Opera CEO Jon S. von Tetzchner. "I can assure everyone in Redmond that they've seen nothing yet".
"We are seeing the beginning of a great continental divide emerging between European and American Internet users," said Dean Kakridas, vice president Opera desktop products. "In Europe, Opera is the fashionable trend among Web connoisseurs, while the US seem to be a bit slower in catching on".
The company made the bullish prediction in conjunction with the release of its browser for the Windows platform, Opera 6.01.
Opera 6 is the first Windows version of the browser that can display non-Roman characters, a feature that the company is depending on to successfully penetrate the browser market Asia and Eastern Europe.
Opera said that it has already enjoyed some success in Russia taking a 5.8 percent share of the Soviet market. However, the company is also taking steps to penetrate the Asian market.
"The Japanese have been eager to try Opera, and we expect this trend to accelerate exponentially in the rest of Asia when local language versions of the browser are released later this year," said Kakridas.
In addition to enhancements in the browser, Opera has partnered with Lycos who have provided a custom start-up page for every Opera user.
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