It's a conspiracy (tongue in cheek)

I heard a while ago that Microsoft was being forced to offer Windows users in the EU a choice of internet browser, rather than being stuck with the default Internet Explorer.  BBC News

Now I have been using alternative browsers for a while.  I discovered that Mozilla's Firefox seemed generally faster, and Google's Chrome seemed faster still, if a little annoying in how it downloads stuff.  I mostly restrict my usage of Internet Explorer to exploring Microsoft sites which behave better in their own browser.  In particular I refer to my work emails which are available online using Microsoft's Outlook Web Access.  It is a little annoying to use it in Internet Explorer, but totally frustrating in other browsers

So people like me don't really need a lovely browser choice box to help me know there are alternatives to IE.

I think its really aimed at people who never really thought about trying anything else, and particularly those who didn't know they could try anything else.  So I spotted a serious conspiracy afoot (reminder - tongue in cheek here folks) when I took the opportunity to download the only browser in the choice window above that I haven't tried yet - Opera.  I clicked install and downloaded a copy, and guess what happened?  Norton started having problems, flashing a yellow box in the corner and telling me that this Opera software needed attention.  Surely enough to scare off those aforementioned people who don't really understand browser choice, and probably dont understand much about software!!  Are Norton and Microsoft conspiring to frighten Europeans out of abandoning IE?

Not so easily scared myself, I asked Norton to explain itself;

Oh, I see, so really you're saying its perfectly safe? Thanks for rushing this piece of highly urgent information to my attention!

Aside from corporate conspiracy, there are other things to have a laugh about with this browser choice.  The five main broswers initially displayed are all ones I have heard of.  Each of them has its selling point explained in a couple of sentences, helping the hapless user to make a [minimally] informed choice.  Scroll along, and there are another 7 choices of lesser-known browsers. Have a look at what the people from GreenBrowser chose to say about themselves;

Really inspires you to choose GreenBrowser doesn't it?  Marketing people all over will probably steal this technique.  "Ford Mondeo: your best choice of fast and spacious ford mondeo" or "Hovis Wholemeal Loaf: your best choice of tasty and wholemeal bread."

Am I being too nasty?