if opera goes live like next 15 does, it's just a chrome clone -- and a bad one, too. i can get a better opera12-like experience with another browser and a few plugins. this is sad. :(
i miss when opera cared about its users. it was constantly improving speeds, reliability, and making sure pages without optimization for opera displayed properly. opera used to be an innovator; plenty of must-have opera features were later integrated into other browsers.
dumping the features that opera users love will only cause them all to leave and cause irreparable pr damage. why would i want an rss reader separate from the browser? the built-in irc client is fantastic, and i love being able to customize every part of the ui to suit myself. i'll be sticking with 12.15 until a later version has the features i love or it becomes too outdated and i change to a browser that suits my needs.
not why did you drop presto: why did you drop everything else with it? why!!???
i'll stay with opera 12; at present, there are no comparable options... i think it's sad; the development around the presto engine is elegant, integrated, and flows. i love the flexibility and customization and respected opera as an entity willing and able to do something functional and unique!
i understand developers wanting to spend more time implementing new features, and less time debugging current ones. as a developer myself, believe me: i get it.
however, i think if opera is to get such a major overhaul that it is to lose its identity, its uniqueness in the process, it will in fact become a chrome clone. and why bother with a facsimile when you can use the real chrome? i urge my nordic friends: reinstate as many opera-specific features as possible in release 15.1 (or .01 even), otherwise the opera fanbase will diminish, if not disappear altogether.
i've already tested the new release candidate (that's how i see it at the moment), and could see very few differences with chrome, which i was afraid of... so yes, if opera is approximately equal to chrome, then i'll drop opera, the same way operadev is betraying (that's how it feels) their users.
m., disgruntled in holland
i am moving to a browser that needs 6 (and counting) add-ons to do the job you did. and it's not so pretty. don't make me do this. give me my opera back!!
it has been a great friend ...
sorry, many good features from opera 12 are missing. i might as well install chrome...
have to invent a time machine.
find your way and be as good as you were. opera next looks very promising, but excluding mail, irc, and so on, is really bad.