Comments on: Opera is Free, Today, Tomorrow, Forever

By: Rhywun

Rhywun — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 14:20:06 +0000

I just started trying out Opera 8.5 - wow, not only free but it’s a MAJOR improvement over previous versions I tried a few years ago. IMHO, the interface design was pretty poor back then. But it’s MUCH better now. Elegant, in fact.

By: Joshua

Joshua — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 02:34:56 +0000

I don’t want them to move from Opera8… It works so well on a mac… Opera8 is more responsive than any other browser I have ever used for mac and is the most compatible, aside from the lack of text editing features that are prominent in Firefox… I shall stick with Opera8 unless there is some major gain in functionality with Opera9….

((TjL writes: Opera9 probably will not be ready for awhile, so you don’t need to worry about this yet. You should decide for yourself whether or not to upgrade based on the features when it is finalized. I never recommend that people upgrade unless there are security issues or features they can’t live without))

By: TjL

TjL — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 20:49:13 +0000

Opera has always been responsive and proactive to security concerns. Not only are they aware of the bad publicity that would go along with a slow response to security threats, but they also use the browser themselves and wouldn't want to risk it either.

I have every confidence that Opera will respond as quickly as they have in the past, if not quicker, given the upsurge in users now that the browser is ad-free.

By: Parkes

Parkes — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 18:15:38 +0000

i just hope with the move to a free browser the opera developers will continue to remain ontop of security threats as they have done in the past.

with the browser becoming free it's popularity is sure to increase making it a likely target for annoying hackers to try and find exploits to piss ppl off

By: tomyam

tomyam — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 02:19:24 +0000

Wow, Opera servers might slow to a crawl with the number of downloads.

http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2005/09/22/operasiteslowedbysurgeinfree_downloads.html

By: Dries

Dries — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 14:49:35 +0000

I have been using the ad-version for about two years now, I think. Your series had just convinced me to buy a licence, but the day I missed the Opera present on their party, I was so p*ssed off I delayed with a few weeks. And now it is not necessary any more! I'm feeling a bit ashamed now for waiting so long...

It is a strange view, I must say, without an ad bar... But I think I can get used to it ;-)

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 15:00:47 +0000

Just started using opera since it has become free. I have tried to install it in the past, but it didn't work for me (something about clashing QT versions). However, I notice that they now offer .deb packages so I installed it with no fuss whatsoever.

So far enjoying the experience, I haven't made my mind up about it yet and I have a few issues with graphics in pages looking corrupt, but predominantly positive :)

By: Eric Blade

Eric Blade — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 03:48:26 +0000

I don’t think they will have a huge problem making money. Mobile device licenses make up a really good income for Opera, along with their search and advertising contracts, and now user support contracts.

By: Nathan Jones

Nathan Jones — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 02:08:28 +0000

There is another response:

I'm pleased to have supported Opera in the past, but how are they going to make money?

I gained some assurance that they know what they're doing from this blog post - http://www.ismckenzie.com/archives/09-01-2005_09-30-2005.html#402 - explaining that their partnerships with Google and others allow them to increase revenue by increasing the user base.

By: Ashura

Ashura — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 14:14:55 +0000

What shall I say?

I'm f***ing loving it!

Now that the path is clear, Opera should get a much bigger part of the cake.

Have nice day.