The rumour of the day — already debunked by Opera — is that Microsoft is buying Opera. What I find interesting about this rumour is the chess match with the big M’s arch rival: G. These two guys need a cage match complete with Balmer’s alleged chair antics. I’m talking WWF style with Michael Buffer saying: “Let’s get ready to rummmmmmbbbblleeee!”

Whomever is leaking all these talks in the Redmond camp is smart. If Google wasn’t already that interested, then you just woke up the sleeping Giant to go back to the table. I doubted the Google buying Opera rumor last week and laughed when I saw the Microsoft rumour this morning, but truth be told: Opera makes more sense for Microsoft than Google. Michael Gartenberg explains why Opera’s mobile penetration would be useful to Microsoft.

The problem is these PR tactics are lost on inactivity and a furtive reminder exactly what deals Microsoft has made lately. Just getting the word out isn’t going all the way, the endgame is actually cutting deals and that is where Microsoft seems to have a weak trigger finger.

Man, I wish it was true that Opera was caught in the .NET, but then what would they do? Abort .NET? Run out a competing product without Windows functionality? I’d love the possibility of using my Tablet PC on Opera with full functionality as opposed to IE, but that isn’t likely to ever happen.

The reality is I’ve not been able to stop using Opera every day since I downloaded it. It’s clearly a superior and often overlooked browser except for its million plus dedicated users. I keep using Opera more and more and understand that user passion. Yes, Firefox rocks, but the CPU consumption with all those running extensions doesn’t. Opera is streamlined and gets the job done without the frills. The sessions function is incredibly handy. I could go on. Should go on. If you haven’t downloaded and tried Opera, give it a try now. It’s free. There is no reason not to at least try using it. You could be hooked too.

Readers are probably getting tired of reading me say this but Microsoft needs to get off its ASP and start buying. Make that the New Year’s resolution. They bought Giant antispyware and what else in 2005? Wait, no, that was 2004, not 2005. Meanwhile, you have Yahoo on a major buying spree and Google expanding its reach and stock value. Where is the AdCenter, Microsoft? What are you waiting for? Sign us up, get webmasters on board. The golden web kingdom is blazed by webmasters. Yahoo and Google understand this, Microsoft still doesn’t. Why can’t I run Adcenter on my MSN Spaces blog? Why not? Oh, that’s probably coming in 2006 too.

Wait, wait, wait. Of course Microsoft isn’t going to buy Opera. They’d rather keep us waiting.

• Google’s money looked better than Microsoft in DoubleClick bidding
• Microsoft wants to buy Yahoo for $31 a share, $44.6 billion deal
• 11 months for GOOG to reach $600, while Adcenter moves like molasses
• 10 reasons Microsoft will *not* acquire Yahoo in 2007, one reason they might
• Singing a little Opera 9 beta 2 with widgets and Flock beta 1
• MSN to target Google’s Achille’s Steal?