5 ms·

> Opera felt small and fast because it did less and ran websites doing less. Let us assume that is true (even though it isn't) - what's Firefox and other brows

> Opera felt small and fast because it did less and ran websites doing less. Let us assume that is true (even though it isn't) - what's Firefox and other browsers excuse for running slower than Opera on these same sites, during the same period? Opera presto supported a lot of the features of HTML5(1). So it didn't necessarily "do less" than the others. And second, if you really want to compare Opera presto with other browsers, you should do it with the versions of the competing browsers that were available then. (I still remember how people complained about Firefox consuming a a lot of RAM when you opened more than 10 tabs, where as Opera could easily handle 100+ tabs(2) without any complaints.) Even otherwise, if you test it out yourself today by downloading an Opera presto version (version 12.15 / 12.16) you will find how usable it still is on 70-80% of the websites today, even after not being developed for years now). (1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presto_(browser_engine) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presto_(browser_engine) (2) https://forums.opera.com/topic/19313/how-to-retrieve-accidentally-closed-100-tabs-with-stupid-close-all-tabs-option https://forums.opera.com/topic/19313/how-to-retrieve-acciden... ... and ... https://portableapps.com/node/59581 https://portableapps.com/node/59581

acdha 6y ago
Nobody is arguing that Opera wasn’t fast, only that there’s been more than a decade of massive improvements which is not reflected in your comments. I used, and paid for, Opera but its golden age is past.
- webmobdev 6y ago
  > ... only that there’s been more than a decade of massive improvements which is not reflected in your comments ... Oh ok. I see the confusion - I was speaking specifically about Opera (Presto engine) versions. Not the current Opera Chromium clone. And the point I was trying to make is that it was a much, much better product than its competitors. And if it had survived, with the original team still working on it, it still would be better than Firefox / Gecko and Chrome / Blink of today.
  - acdha 6y ago
    I was also talking about Presto. It was good at the time in some areas but that’s like the guys who say their classic car is unmatched ignoring that everything on the lot is safer, lower maintenance, and less polluting. People switched because Presto wasn’t perfect (I had plenty of big reports) and it was falling behind with each release as Mozilla and Google really hit their strides.
    - webmobdev 6y ago
      > I was also talking about Presto. It was good at the time in some areas but that’s like the guys who say their classic car is unmatched ... I was talking about Presto in comparison with browser engines of its period. As for people switching to others because "Presto wasn't perfect" - obviously, even an Opera fan like me did too, because the project was abandoned and started showing its age! My point was that it was a much better engineered project than its competitor of the same period and if its development had continued with the same philosophy, it would still be one. When I say Opera Presto was better, I do mean better than Gecko, Trident, Webkit of that period, not better than the current modern versions of these browser engine.

acdha 6y ago

Nobody is arguing that Opera wasn’t fast, only that there’s been more than a decade of massive improvements which is not reflected in your comments. I used, and paid for, Opera but its golden age is past.

webmobdev 6y ago
> ... only that there’s been more than a decade of massive improvements which is not reflected in your comments ... Oh ok. I see the confusion - I was speaking specifically about Opera (Presto engine) versions. Not the current Opera Chromium clone. And the point I was trying to make is that it was a much, much better product than its competitors. And if it had survived, with the original team still working on it, it still would be better than Firefox / Gecko and Chrome / Blink of today.
- acdha 6y ago
  I was also talking about Presto. It was good at the time in some areas but that’s like the guys who say their classic car is unmatched ignoring that everything on the lot is safer, lower maintenance, and less polluting. People switched because Presto wasn’t perfect (I had plenty of big reports) and it was falling behind with each release as Mozilla and Google really hit their strides.
  - webmobdev 6y ago
    > I was also talking about Presto. It was good at the time in some areas but that’s like the guys who say their classic car is unmatched ... I was talking about Presto in comparison with browser engines of its period. As for people switching to others because "Presto wasn't perfect" - obviously, even an Opera fan like me did too, because the project was abandoned and started showing its age! My point was that it was a much better engineered project than its competitor of the same period and if its development had continued with the same philosophy, it would still be one. When I say Opera Presto was better, I do mean better than Gecko, Trident, Webkit of that period, not better than the current modern versions of these browser engine.