i appreciated the opera browser in a way that, it seems, the company didn't.
it was a real diamond in the rough, back in the days when firefox was in mere beta and aol / internet explorer ruled supreme. though shortened development cycles and mismanagement have made its shine duller through the years, opera nonetheless remained reliable and extensible in a way that other browsers could not compare. whenever our computers needed to be upgraded or replaced, opera was always the first program my family downloaded.
i was a bit disappointed when opera announced that they were abandoning the presto engine - but hey, as long as opera remained the trusty multitool it's been for the past ten years or so, who cares? -- but at what cost, the switch? opera 15 is a laughable mistake. you've eviscerated the features that earned it a loyal following and, in turn, churned out a poor, impotent clone of google chrome.
who in their right mind will use opera now, when chrome and firefox - at least - have a more important feature than stacks and a speed dial right out of the box? i am referring to bookmarks. what sort of half-wit browser doesn't come with the most basic, the most crucial feature of online browsing? even the most questionable and shoddily built of web browsers in the recesses of the android store come with bookmarks!
by god! if you're at least going to raze the browser to the ground, rebuild it with a feature that even the most casual of internet users rely on a daily basis! i am leaving opera not because of a change of engines or policy - i am leaving because using this castrated mess of a browser is embarrassing.
it's nice to have a faster browser that is compatible with many chrome addons, but the trade-off is so tremendous that it makes the new opera far inferior to the classic opera.
goodbye
so long, and thanks for all the fish!
no seriously... i don't eat fish. opera has always been the best browser and a shining example of well thought out features. as a matter of fact, opera would've been the only browser i'd be willing to pay a reasonable price for.... ever. since the decision to introduce extensions, opera has slowly been going downhill though. i've been sticking by opera, because i could just not use those features (even though they had performance impact, etc.) now with v15 everything that made opera the superior browser has been removed. i'm going to stick to opera 12 as long as possible, hoping those features come back. until either the new opera has the same great features again, or i'm forced to say goodbye to opera altogether (which might happen because more and more sites actively don't support opera and if i have to switch to a chrome clone i might as well use chrome itself). that would be a shame, i've been a very loyal user since i've discovered opera and have always advised other people to use it as well. most weren't advanced enough users to be able to appreciate the features, but most of my classmates used it as well. of the current preview versions all i can say is: it's a crippled chrome clone.
fu, ruined the browser, so long.
hope to return.
thank you, we had a great time together! i'll be missing...
chropera
guys, i think, for the sake of opera, there is no need to follow the chrome style (beta, next, stable). we all love the default way; there is no need to change its appearance. everybody loves the current 12.15 version gui. you should have your own identity, not follow trends set by others (firefox, chrome).