DO NOT PUB - Opera CEO Sets Up New Browser War with Microsoft; A small Norwegian software company says with a level playing field it can take on mighty Microsoft in a new battle of the browsers because it has a better product, picking up where the now-defunct Netscape left off in the 1990s.

BRUSSELS-- A small Norwegian software company says with a level playing field it can take on mighty Microsoft Corp. in a new battle of the browsers because it has a better product, picking up where the now-defunct Netscape left off in the 1990s.

Opera, which like Microsoft and Firefox manufactures Web browsers, says the humble browser has become increasingly more important to consumers as the years have passed.

"These days people spend more time in front of their Web browser then they do in front of their television set," said Jon von Tetzchner, chief executive of Opera Software of Norway.

The company that controls Web browsers could potentially change the …