
Opera 15 released - lordlarm
http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2013/07/02/opera-15
======
ishansharma
I'm downloading it right now. But based on first impression, and reason why I
started using Opera in first place, it may alienate users.

I started using it because I was on a slow connection and back then, Opera was
a 10 MB internet package. It had email, download manager, chat and everything.

I am not sure about these features but size is 29.7 MB! Curious, did it
increase just because of brink?

~~~
ohwp
It alienated me. I like Opera 12 very much. But the things I like are missing
in 15. Tab-screenshots for example.

And the overall look and feel is just Chrome. So I think people will skip
Opera 15 and download Chrome instead. Or they will stick to Opera 12 like I
will.

Strange. The new mobile versions doesn't get a lot of positive reviews and now
this one. I hope Opera didn't loose track.

~~~
exterm
regarding "tab-screenshots": Opera calls them visual Tabs. The linked article
says "Right now, we are focusing on synchronization (aka Opera Link), enhanced
tab management (visual tabs and so on) and support for themes – and these are
just a few of the features you can expect to find soon in our next releases!"

~~~
infinita740
these two things (better tab management and synchronization) are what restrain
me from updating.

Also the kind of bookmarks "stash" is not searchable in search bar, which is
not really handy

------
bschwarz
I didn't expect them to release a stable build this fast. The current build is
still lacking a lot of features which might alienate some users forever.

And while they didn't add native bookmark support (they really seem to want to
push this) they have released an official bookmark extension which is also a
work in progress. You can get it here:
[https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/bookmarks-
man...](https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/bookmarks-manager/)

~~~
Tomis02
> The current build is still lacking a lot of features which might alienate
> some users forever.

This is one of the things I severely dislike about HN - comments for the sake
of commenting, or as someone else might put it - the "no sh*t Sherlock
comments". Your point here is discussed in the original story, so there is no
reason for you to state the obvious, wasting people's time when they read your
comment. Don't worry, you're far from being the only one doing this around
here.

"We have neither asked nor forced our 12.x users to upgrade to Opera 15, as we
know that some features that are important to you are still to come. So, while
you are very welcome to test and use Opera 15, Opera 12.x will still be alive
for some time. You can expect that we will keep Opera 12.x up to date and
secure. In the future, once we are comfortable with the feature set, we may
ask you to upgrade."

~~~
lurkinggrue
The thing is, while they may bugfix 12, it is now a dead platform. There are a
ton of features in 12 that it is looking likely will never come back but they
won't say what is coming back.

Looking at every Opera threat it is clear they have alienated many users
already and the way they are responding to those users it's clear they want
them gone.

------
exterm
More in-depth release message on their developer blog:
[http://my.opera.com/ODIN/blog/2013/07/02/introducing-
opera-1...](http://my.opera.com/ODIN/blog/2013/07/02/introducing-opera-15-for-
desktop-and-a-fast-release-cycle)

------
mataug
I am unable to download version 15 for linux, probably it doesn't exist.

~~~
Ziomislaw
I wonder if they will still support freebsd with blink based opera.

~~~
exterm
All I have heard is "Linux will follow", no mention of FreeBSD so far.

------
FatalBaboon
Users who may be alienated from this new version will probably not ever hear
of it. It's kind of a beta, you can play with it but it's not ready, I mean
what did you expect so fast?

I think it shows the Opera team is motivated and tackles the engine switch
fiercely.

~~~
oblio
They should definitely move this from their homepage. Right now it's the
default download = BAD IDEA. Considering the font antialiasing problems and
all the missing features, the should probably make it the default download
around 16 or maybe even 17.

They're rushing it and it might hurt them badly. Reputation loss is hard to
recover from :)

------
filereaper
I was excited of the switch to WebKit, but I expected a straight under the
covers replacement of just the rendering engine. As in if you didnt follow the
news, you wouldnt be any wiser. The UI changes are unwelcome.

~~~
oblio
This is the initial, rough port to Blink. I'm quite sure that as development
advances it will look a lot less like Chrome and a lot more like Opera.

------
denysonique
The UI of Opera 12.5 on Linux is way faster than the UI of Chrome, Firefox.
Tab opening for example is significantly faster. Back, Forward buttons also
provide faster results. See it for yourself.

------
upthedale
This has so many missing features that I would expect from an Opera browser.
Lots of seemingly little things that add up (where's the mouse chording!)

Where is this bleeding edge Opera Developer version that they mention in the
post available for download, so I can at least see if the little things that
have kept me on Opera for 9 years are in the pipeline?

------
jongibbins
Bring back embedding folders in folders in the bookmarks (Speed Dial) and it's
a winner. I was an Opera user for years but moved to Chrome when the odd site
would break now and then.

I'd love to go back to Opera, I'm actually quite a fan of the new v15 but the
lack of folders in folders in bookmarks is a dealbreaker for me.

------
navs
Wow, this is fast! Then again so was Chrome when I didn't bog it down with all
my preferences, extensions, etc. Off-Road looks like a rebranding of their
Turbo feature, which was my main reason for using Opera in the first place.

------
lampe3
Still no Love for Linux :(

------
squidi
"Although most users don't use bookmarks"

Wow. I'm sure they have the data to back that up. I guess most people now get
the news from their Facebook stream perhaps.

~~~
infinita740
I think they say that in the way of a left bookmark pannel.

The new stash feature is IMHO a better way to do bookmarks as you get a quick
glance at the page and you can even search for words inside the pages.

However, I do not currently use this release because it lacks a lot of
_important_ features:

->ability to stack tabs in expandables groups

->no opera link (bookmark sync), even if they do it with stash

->stash is not searchable via the address bar (huge step backward in my opinion)

->I use opera turbo daily (now called off road mode) and I miss the F12 menu to switch it on (you can also disable JS, accept popups, etc in the same menu)

In an unrelated note they could improve custom search engines to display a
logo of the site (like they did for google, wikipedia yahoo bing and amazon) I
have a lot of "custom search engines" and they just appear the same way as a
magnifying glass

for the plus side: think it's a good thing that they got rid of the search bar
as you can search in the address bar anyway

EDIT: typo

~~~
yareally
Stash feature is only great if you have a small amount of bookmarks. If you
say, have like 1000+ accumulated since first using Opera in 2003, then stash
is not so desirable.

------
itsbits
I hope IE realises like Opera and move to either Gecko or WebKit...All web
devs will be happy :D

------
lurkinggrue
I was an Opera user for more than a decade. Opera 15 is unusable.

------
mavhc
When are they planning to release Opera 15 for Humans?

------
ksec
Does it have Tab-Overflow?

------
itsbits
is it webkit based??..

~~~
mmsimanga
Yes, from the About Opera menu item:

 _Browser identification

... AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/28.0.1500.52 Safari/537.36
OPR/15.0.1147.130_

~~~
martinml
I really like the "OPR" thing to subtly avoid UA sniffing :)

------
rorrr2
I don't get the point of Opera anymore.

~~~
richtr
Well, it's the only mainstream alternative Chromium-based browser for Windows
and Mac at this point? Also, only half jokingly, it also comes non-NSA-
approved (because it's Norwegian).

Considering this is the first version of a product seemingly built from
scratch it features a LOT more than any other browser had on their first
public releases. I expect a lot of innovation here in the coming months based
on Opera's track record. It has the makings of being a great browser.

------
mtreder
15 releases and still almost nobody uses it. Couple of years ago Opera was a
solid browser and a great hope. Today it's on the verge of being forgotten.

~~~
glazskunrukitis
Why nobody? Opera is quite popular in some communities/regions.

~~~
mtreder
Right now Opera has 1.6% of market share. Safari - 4.1%. Back in 2011 - Opera
had 2.5% and Safari 4.0%. You can actually see that Opera is in bad shape. And
probably you're right - Opera might be popular in some communities. Globally
though - it doesn't matter and its market share is actually shrinking.

~~~
k_bx
I bet if Opera will be default browser in OS X it will be more popular than
Safari.

~~~
tcfunk
This is a great point to bring up. Safari and IE get a sort of default market
share given that they ship with a mainstream OS.

~~~
k_bx
I think you choose your browser in Windows before you use it (at least in
Europe). // I'm not sure I agree with this law, but it for sure affects
browser share.

