Browser Wars II: The Saga Continues : evolt.org, Commentary & Society. An excellent article for anyone who actually gives two shits about web browser software (and in the readership of this blog, I think nearly all the people who meet that criterion are in the same room as me right now...).
I don't agree with the article's view of Opera though. It paints a very bleak picture; when really Opera has an opportunity right now to sell itself according to the killer features of its user interface... eg. turning off popups, turning off animated gifs, password management (which I would never use but people like), mouse gestures (try them and you'll never go back), skinning (the ultimate in cosmetic-but-critical features for some users), etc.
What has held Opera back? Money and ads. You either have ads; or you pay for the software. Until now; none of the big players have seriously made anyone pay for their browser. Microsoft unsurprisingly breaks that ground here by tying the browser to its next Windows release - that is, you have to cough up to get a new browser. Users don't give a shit about their browser; they certainly won't pay for it when there's a free option. But if they have to pay for something that used to be free; they might try an alternative if it's cheaper and does the job (especially if it does the job better). So; if they need a better browser (which they will one day, when IE6 is as obviously ancient as Netscape 4 is now) then they might look at their computer (hmm, not enough RAM for Longhorn); look at their bank balance; look at the price of Windows and the price of Opera.... It's an opportunity. Not a huge, easy, wonderful opportunity; but it's there.
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