3 ms·

Can we have that do-it-all Opera back? RSS, email, torrents. Feels like we had it all internet wise in 2007-2010 and then decided to throw it all away.

mrweasel 2y ago
I think Vivaldi have both RSS and email, it's sort of the spiritual successor to the original Opera.... I miss the old Opera.
- rplnt 2y ago
  Vivaldi is roughly 1000 times slower. You need a pretty good computer to run that UI. It also lacks extremely basic features Opera had; like working LRU tab switching. I liked the idea, but it's impossible to recommend.
  - AlienRobot 2y ago
    Is that true? I remember having to change a setting to switch the behavior of tab switching because it was LRU by default and I prefer it in visible order.
    - rplnt 2y ago
      It used to work and broke maybe 2 years ago. This tells me that no one is actually using the browser and that no one is really working on it either. It receives chromium updates and then some money-making features here and there.
  - dicknuckle 2y ago
    have you tried Otter Browser?
    - rplnt 2y ago
      It's been a while, 8-10 years ago maybe? But quick look now tells me it's still one person effort. That's both awesome and unfortunate. I wish it got more traction back then to attract more active user/dev base.
    - rplnt 2y ago
      What a blast from the past. 0 comments, 0 points. Opera wasn't very popular in US. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937436 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937436
rplnt 2y ago
We did not decide it. Google decided to kill it. In countries where Opera had major share Google ran aggressive and deceptive (something something faster) campaign with billboards, radio and tv ads. Chrome ads were also everywhere on their homepages (google.com, youtube.com). But more nefariously, Google kept blocking features and apps based on the UA agent alone. Add lots of tech demos with their custom extensions.
- masklinn 2y ago
  They did that in pretty much every (developed) country not just those where opera has major share.
  - rplnt 2y ago
    Good point, I missed a word or two there to make it clear I didn't mean it was only there.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- miki123211 2y ago
  Don't forget bundling Chrome with random apps (I remember cCleaner), making it install silently and automatically set itself as default. I got caught by this as a kid a few times, I was technical enough to know what was going on, and reliant on a screen reader (which Chrome didn't support back then), so it was definitely a memorable annoyance for me, but I guess quite a few people didn't care.
pbhjpbhj 2y ago
Do you mean Opera Unite, that had p2p file sharing and a 'wall' (I think it was termed the fridge door, all your verified users could leave you notes/images on it IIRC). I blogged about it back in the day (15 years ago), https://alicious.com/opera-about-to-change-the-world/ https://alicious.com/opera-about-to-change-the-world/.

mrweasel 2y ago

I think Vivaldi have both RSS and email, it's sort of the spiritual successor to the original Opera.... I miss the old Opera.

rplnt 2y ago
Vivaldi is roughly 1000 times slower. You need a pretty good computer to run that UI. It also lacks extremely basic features Opera had; like working LRU tab switching. I liked the idea, but it's impossible to recommend.
- AlienRobot 2y ago
  Is that true? I remember having to change a setting to switch the behavior of tab switching because it was LRU by default and I prefer it in visible order.
  - rplnt 2y ago
    It used to work and broke maybe 2 years ago. This tells me that no one is actually using the browser and that no one is really working on it either. It receives chromium updates and then some money-making features here and there.
- dicknuckle 2y ago
  have you tried Otter Browser?
  - rplnt 2y ago
    It's been a while, 8-10 years ago maybe? But quick look now tells me it's still one person effort. That's both awesome and unfortunate. I wish it got more traction back then to attract more active user/dev base.
  - rplnt 2y ago
    What a blast from the past. 0 comments, 0 points. Opera wasn't very popular in US. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937436 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937436

rplnt 2y ago

We did not decide it. Google decided to kill it. In countries where Opera had major share Google ran aggressive and deceptive (something something faster) campaign with billboards, radio and tv ads. Chrome ads were also everywhere on their homepages (google.com, youtube.com). But more nefariously, Google kept blocking features and apps based on the UA agent alone. Add lots of tech demos with their custom extensions.

masklinn 2y ago
They did that in pretty much every (developed) country not just those where opera has major share.
- rplnt 2y ago
  Good point, I missed a word or two there to make it clear I didn't mean it was only there.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
miki123211 2y ago
Don't forget bundling Chrome with random apps (I remember cCleaner), making it install silently and automatically set itself as default. I got caught by this as a kid a few times, I was technical enough to know what was going on, and reliant on a screen reader (which Chrome didn't support back then), so it was definitely a memorable annoyance for me, but I guess quite a few people didn't care.

pbhjpbhj 2y ago

Do you mean Opera Unite, that had p2p file sharing and a 'wall' (I think it was termed the fridge door, all your verified users could leave you notes/images on it IIRC). I blogged about it back in the day (15 years ago), https://alicious.com/opera-about-to-change-the-world/ https://alicious.com/opera-about-to-change-the-world/.