Opera: The Company with a Big Heart

OPERA, the browser company, was started only in 1994. Yet, in 2007 the small browser company took on the might of Microsoft. Opera filed an antitrust complaint with the EU. It urged the EU to look into Microsoft's practice of bundling IE with its popular Windows OS.

Late last year Opera won and the software giant was forced to eat humble pie. Microsoft agreed to provide a choice of browsers to its users. It was a victory for the customer in general. The browser industry would now come up with even better products as a result.

I met the CEO of Opera Software, Jon S. von Tetzchner, once in Delhi while working as an IT journalist. If my meeting with him was any indicator of the company's vision then Opera strives hard to provide customers with innovative solutions. The several awards that the company received over the years is proof of that.

The company is credited to have pioneered many browser features that we work on today, such as tabs and Speed Dial.

So it came as no surprise to me when Opera Mini was approved for iPhone and iPod touch on the App Store this month.

Mini is currently the number one iPhone app in the 22 featured Apple App Stores on the Apple's website. It's another feather in Opera's cap!