Microsoft’s browser ballot approach in the EU seems to be doing very well for the smaller browsers out there, with Opera seeing its user base grow with the introduction.

If nothing else, it's a very interesting development...

While many have questioned the need for a browser ballot at all, it seems that, for those who had lodged complaints with the EU commission in the first place, things are working out very well indeed. Opera, the “smallest” browser of the ‘Big Five’ included in Microsoft’s browser ballot, has done very well for itself out of the whole business, with what it’s calling a “dramatic uptake on downloads,” with Microsoft’s Browser Ballot page sending the vast majority of new users its way.

According to a posting from the folks at Opera, there’s been a very impressive surge indeed when it comes to Opera downloads since the browser ballot hit, including a very interesting 328% surge in numbers coming from Poland, of which fully 77% came from the browser ballot. Indeed, it seems that fully 53% of Opera’s new downloads came from the recently introduced browser ballot.

Opera saw similarly impressive (though not nearly as high) figures in other European countries, with Spain up 215%, Italy up 202% and Denmark up 198%. Sadly, Ireland didn’t make the list, so there’s no telling just if, or to what extent, our own browser figures might have changed thanks to the browser ballot arrangement.

If nothing else, as Windows 7 uptake continues to rise, it’ll be interesting to see how much the browser market gets shaken up. While it seems unlikely that we’ll see everything just levelled out, it could well be the case that minority browsers like Opera and Google’s Chrome see some growth out of the whole affair, especially given the fact that Chrome carries the Google brand, which, if we’re honest, has become something of a synonym for the web in some circles.