Farewell Opera?

Opera released its first version of Opera 15 via the OperaNext channel. This release was supposed to be the first one with WebKit/Blink as its rendering engine instead of Opera's own Presto engine.

But, as some have feared, it has become clear that Opera developed a completely new browser with a new UI missing almost all the features that made Opera unique. The overwhelming majority of the >1000 commenters on the release post http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/opera-next-15-0-released has big problems with the decisions.

Contrary to what many first thought, this is not a "tech preview" or "Alpha" release - it's the (feature complete) beta of Opera 15. Opera employees make that clear:

  • Haavard stated (https://twitter.com/opvard/status/339429877784670209): "Opera 15 is not the final version ever. Future versions will have new features as well." (i.e. this version will not)
  • Another employee responded to a user's comment "I want all my features of opera 12 back" with: "I can say for sure that that is not going to happen. Have you seen some of the new stuff? The downloads experience should be much better now, for instance. We’ve focused on the core experience of web browsing."

I (not in any way affiliated with Opera) want to find out more about whether people are really ditching Opera, and if so, why and to which browser they switch.

Are you currently using Opera Desktop as your main browser?

Are you going to upgrade to Opera 15 (with its current features only) ?

How important are the following features in Opera (without extensions) to you?

If you switch: Which browser are you going to use in the future?

Other option

  1. vivaldi
  2. would prefer not to have to switch.
  3. don't know
  4. undecided
  5. opera 12.15
  6. i don't know.
  7. i don't know yet.
  8. have to do some research first
  9. i don't know yet.
  10. i don't know, i will be lost; nothing is good enough like opera 12.16.
…More…

If you used M2 for Mail and switch, which E-Mail client are you going to use in the future?

Other option

  1. gmail
  2. do not know
  3. don't know
  4. undecided
  5. claws
  6. bet
  7. i don't know yet.
  8. separate opera mail
  9. firefox simplemail add-on
  10. the bat!
…More…

If you switch: How many Opera installations are you going to replace?

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. not decided yet
  5. 1
  6. none
  7. 30
  8. 4
  9. 1
  10. too many. never switch 12.16.
…More…

If you switch: How many people would follow your example / recommendation and switch, too?

  1. 2
  2. 24
  3. 2
  4. 2 to 3 people
  5. don't know
  6. no idea
  7. ?
  8. 10
  9. 0
  10. hope not too many. i don't want people to switch from opera to other browsers.
…More…

Since when have you been using Opera as your main browser?

Under which name(s) have you been active in the Opera newsgroups and forums? (completely optional!)

  1. jbra
  2. skynv
  3. robinhawk
  4. dioggo92
  5. none
  6. myflywheel, peter jespersen
  7. it is
  8. flange
  9. andrey rybenkov
  10. megapup
…More…

If you switch: Your farewell message to Opera

  1. nothing
  2. welcome back with a bang.
  3. all the best
  4. none
  5. opera 15 and next is your worst decision. waiting for new upgrades to opera 12.16 :)
  6. enjoy your bankruptcy.
  7. please don't let presto die. give it a second life by setting it free and making it open source.
  8. 请提供您希望翻译的文本。
  9. i understand why this had to happen, but i would have preferred to see the whole thing open-sourced and the company closed down.
  10. you have chosen the wrong direction and i feel sorry for that. too bad that the choice has been made to abandon presto and kill my opera. after all these years, it feels like a good friend is no longer a friend. opera, thanks for all the years you were the best!!! also, thanks for providing the space on my opera. good luck for the future.
…More…
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