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Opera Reaches 1 Million Downloads Thanks To Google
auckland writes "More than one million people have downloaded the Opera browser in the days since Opera announced it was dropping the ad banner and going completely free. All made possible because Opera signed a search referral deal with Google." From the article: "'The current most important deal now is with Google,' the spokesperson said to Mr. Malik. That deal, and similar ones with Amazon and eBay, give those companies prime placement in the Opera search box. Mozilla has a similar arrangement with Google, with its search box and its default right-click menu search option on highlighted text sending queries straight to Mountain View."
Opera free? Without ads? But Microsoft says companies can't survive like that!
A search for "internet browser" brings opera back at #1.
Damn, I was going to register spreadopera.com and start competing with a certain other browser, but a whois shows that Opera already registered that domain!
With this kind deal between companies? Sure, it may bring Internet Explorer down, but what does this spell for other browsers who do not have 'deals' with Google?
Staying one step ahead!
Lack of competition when you have no competitors is not exactly my idea of monopolistic behavior.
Heck, I'm almost ready to make the case in favor of MSN - at least if Yahoo goes down Google won't have a search monopoly.
Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
They split the advertising revenue generated by the searches through the Google toolbar. This is how firefox pays their employees too. Google pay per click advertising is BIG money. It's a win win for both Google and firefox/opera. Both sides earn more revenue, and Google also takes market share from Microsoft.
Wyatt
Probably mobile devices. Deals with Nokia, for example, to license Opera on phones.
*Sigh*
*bats eyelashes*
Is there anything they cannot do?
kinda sick, heh?
But, hey, I remember when Micro Soft (original name) used to treat its users with a modicum of respect.
I clasp my hands and hope Google stays, well, relatively Good.
Right now, a diversity of free browsers looks pretty good.
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
People should pay to see the Opera! after all, when you download it you miss all the fantastic costumes and corpulant players!
when will the RIAA do something about this!?
I'm not sure but was the headline to suggest that "No, Firefox doesn't suck, and it's still THE ONLY decent alternative to IE, because Opera CHEATS! -- They exchange traffic with Google!!!"
If so, then let me quote from the article:
"Mozilla has a similar arrangement with Google, with its search box and its default right-click menu search option on highlighted text sending queries straight to Mountain View. "
"Two things inspire me to awe -- the starry heavens above and the moral universe within." - Albert Einstein
...turns up a link to Firefox as #1.
But I'm sure you knew that.
Interestingly enough, Mozilla, Opera, Netscape, and Safari are all listed before IE.
And now, we are going to start seeing exploits getting released for Opera. As well as articles about how IE is more secure than Opera. Just give it a little time, trust me.
Since when did operating systems become a religion?
Why would anyone search for an 'internet browser' via their internet browser?
Oh, AOL users.
No, Google is paying Opera to be the default search engine in the toolbar search. It doesn't make any sense for Google to pay Opera to list Opera higher in Google's rankings...
So, remember, everytime you do a search in Firefox, some money goes from google to Mozilla, estimates ranging from 50 cents to 1 dollar per user per year.
This space for rent.
1,000,001 - thanks google!
There is no browser out there with full CSS 2.1 support. Not one. Certaintly not Trident (IE's engine). Not Gecko (Firefox's engine). Not KTML (Konqueror's engine). Not Webcore (Safari's fork of the KHTML engine). And not Presto (Opera's engine).
People talk about designing to the standards, but without a single web browser actually following said standards, web designers on the front lines have to work around different browser's quirks.
For example, a number of browsers support bits and pieces of CSS 3.0. Gecko and Webcore have support for opacity (translucent elements on a web page); Trident can do the same thing with the non-standard "Filter:" tag. However, Presto in Opera 8 has no support for this.
The workaround for Opera users is to use a translucent PNG instead. However, a translucent PNG used in mouseovers triggers a Firefox/Windows 1.0.x bug (probably fixed in Deer Park) where the mouseover image will not be loaded unless visible somewhere else on the page (I can mostly eliminate this bug by making the PNG in question visible on the page as a single 90% transparent pixel in the upper right hand corner. Which mostly, but not completely, works around the bug.)
Basically, with yet another CSS rendering browser out there gaining market share, while only implementing a subset of the CSS standard, web designers now have to work around the quirks of yet another browser. I like this kind of work, but a lot of designers hate this stuff and just throw their hands in the air and make their web page a 100% flash web page or what not.
now that opera changed the USER AGENT ID, what i'm really interested is in seeing how much will change in the stats for IE...
If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
So Google infiltrates yet ANOTHER aspect of the Internet. This strategy of embedding itself into the fabric of the Internet looked cute before the company went on to become the next stockmarket darling, now I can't help but see each new step in increasing its mind-share as Bill Gates in double.
This stockmarket-listed company's strategy is to 'organise the world's information'. The Internet is resembling one large Google Ad to rule them all!
Do we believe in the inherent goodness of this corporation's dollars as it buys, sponsors, advertises its way into open source?
If your code is truly "standards compliant", then the only browser you have cause to be concerned with is Internet Explorer.
As for your suggestion that a browser monopoly would in any way be a good thing for anyone...well, you're just wrong.
Boycott everything - they're all trying to fuck you one way or another
The summary of this article is very unclear about the point. To be clear: people didn't download Opera because it uses Google. Rather, they were *able* to get Opera for free because Opera had an alternative revenue stream with Google.
"Thanks to Google"
It goes side by side with the story about MS's worst nightmare being the web as the next platform. In order for this to happen, the web needs to become truely standard across all browsers and platforms. This will not happen with IE the way it is. Google being a major player in that nightmare, needs to make sure MS's handle on proprietary web technologies ends soon. This can be achieved by helping Opera and Firefox which is exactly what they are doing.
[alk]
"free internet browser", gives you www.mozilla.org
"best internet browser" gives you www.opera.com
"bad internet browser" gives you an article on Internet Explorer
"worst internet browser" gives you home.netscape.com
Amazing. Simply amazing.
I bought Opera a few years back, and it's till my main browser because
- no virus / exploits, prolly not because it's better code, but because it's so little used that hackers don't bother
- native tabbed browsing (years ago, Ffox didn't have THAT, and Opera's is still good now)
- native mouse gestures, I can lay back and browse without the keyboard, and without endlessly monving the pointer back to the tool bar (I actually switch those off, and use it full-screen most of the time: F11)
- it just works, very few sites have problems with it
- it's easy to switch plugins on/off (flash...)
-> I still haven't found a compelling reason to switch to FFox (which I also installed). But then again I doubt there IS a reason to switch from Ffox to Opera nowadays, except maybe security IF all those alerts about FFox result in a major problem sometime.
The mail client sucks, they should just give up on it. It doesn't support ActiveX, which is a blessing and a curse. And of course, it's closed source. But at least it's NOT M$.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
It doesn't spell anything for other browsers. They just have to have their own way to raise funds. They can do that however they want.
If FF and Opera can get Google to pay them for their users searching with Google, more power to 'em. Many would already be using Google in the first place, and the "Google box" is really convenient and easily switchable to some other search engine.
Of course, that last sentence reminds me a lot of "It's very convenient to bundle a web browser with an operating system and it's easy to choose a different one". Which is a true statement as well. With MSN and other competitors trying to take Google's place in search, Google is trying to keep their name first in the minds of the population running Opera and FF -- the population that often thinks of itself at the "net-elite" and is very likely to recommend things to "not-elite" friends. Which is exactly the advantage that Microsoft's IE has, that it's the first one there.
Interestingly enough, at least on FF1.0.6/GNULinux, you can't add new searches to the "googlebox". There's an "Add buttons" item, but it only adds a particular kind of bookmark that lets you type, say, "wp foobar" into the address bar and give you a wikipedia search for foobar. And they don't exactly document that fact well at all. So it does look like the "googlebox" is an exclusive space for Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Dictionary.com, eBay and Creative Commons (one of these things is not like the others?). I mean, of course, FF is open source and I could go through the code and change it. It's probably really easy. But what's interesting is the total lack of acknowledgement of the pay-for-space aspect of FF/Moz. I'd have thought I would have heard of it by now.
Whatever. It's non-intrusive and useful. If it gets intrusive I'll use something else. (Actually Opera getting rid of its adbar caused me to download it and I use it from time to time... so that bit of non-intrusiveness does count.)
That's funny, because last time I checked, Opera is standards compliant. I never had a problem opening web pages that used proper CSS and XHTML with Opera. As long as you stick to standard HTML or XHTML/CSS, you shouldn't have problems opening your web pages in Firefox and Opera. (IE still doesn't support all of the web standards, unfortunately).
Hate to break it to you, but not everybody thinks Firefox is the best thing since sliced bread. I switched to Opera from Firefox a few days ago because it is much faster and much more responsive on my machine (an old 266MHz Pentium II with 64MB RAM). Free Opera was a godsend to me; I couldn't deal with Firefox using my hard drive swap space any more. And then Konqueror and Safari are also nice, standards-compliant browsers. Opera, Konqueror, and Safari users don't need to drop whatever they are doing and switch to Firefox. Heck, I wouldn't even force an IE user to switch to an alternative browser. Hey, whatever floats your boat....
Opera is older, and better, than Firefox, so by your "logic" it is Firefox that is dividing the population even further. I assume that you wish we were all using Mosaic?
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
I see. So, monopolies are bad and competition is good, but there's only allowed to be ONE competition with the leader at a given time? Your argument can just as easily be applied to eliminate Firefox. Why should you have to support TWO browsers when 90% of the population uses only one (IE)? Firefox is damaging the internet by forcing people to support more than one browser!
Please. This is why we have standards: so the can have both competition and compatibilty. It's not perfect, but no competition is even worse.
Volume!
Best Buy can have you arrested
After the 'going free' announcement, I decided to give Opera another shot (I had previously used it when it had that aweful MDI interface) Anyway, I love it! All around it seems really slick - very quick response, very nice look, and it had a really tight feel (not sure what that is - it just seems very responsive). Overall the most 'professional' feeling browser out imho. I'm just hoping they come out with a badly needed googlebar (I like to do google news and groups searches - not just the web). Once they include that, I'll probably make it my primary browser.
Bob
Wow, I thought everyone on Slashdot hated monopolies and loved anything free (wheither as in beer or as in speech).
Opera is better than IE, you're right about that. In many ways it's better than Firefox (and Firefox copied many of it's features from Opera).
Now, before you fan boys start slobbering all over your keyboards, try Opera out. Check out how quickly you can go between pages in your history. Using Opera right now, I can use a tightly integrated mouse gesture (which I didn't have to find, download, restart my browser, test and if I didn't like it do it over again) to go bach to the last page and then back forward and what I am typing will still be here. Try that in Firefox.
When a new version comes out, everything still works- I don't have to go re-install a ton of extensions to get it how I like it. The new trashcan is awesome- if I close a tab, I can re-open it at any time (as long as I didn't quit the application) and not only will it reopen instantly, but it retains it's history.
That being said, there are lots of cool things about Firefox that Opera doesn't allow. Many of the extensions are very specific to things people do online, and it would not make sense to integrate that into a browser like Opera since most people wouldn't use them. There are times in the day I will use both- Opera for general browsing and FF for specific things I do.
It's amazingly asinine of you to say that you'd have to worry about your standards compliant code not working on various browsers. Have you seen the acid2 page in Opera vs. Firefox vs. IE recently? IE blows ass on it, but Opera and Firefox are pretty damn close, with Opera just barely better (thought neither is perfect). If you write standards compliant code and a browser can't support it, then who is at fault?
You said it yourself- market forces will correct it. People are, for the most part pretty ignorant about what a browser is, but it is steadily improving, and a company like Opera ASA making a move like this will actually help educate people. Opera ASA is still a for profit company who is making a profit in spite of giving away it's browser. It's a somewhat risky but clever move on their part. As more people try Opera and the word about the company and the quality of the software it makes gets out, more people will want to try their comercial software. Opera ASA decided to release their browser for free to build mindshare, and it seems like it's working. Now, imagine if they decided to do some real marketing - on TV to get Joe Sixpack. He would learn in 30 seconds that IE is NOT "the internet" and that he can try another browser. The Mozilla Foundation could do this as well, but I don't know if they have the cash laying around that Opera does.
BTW, for a laugh, on Win XP right click IE on the start tab and delete it. It will warn you with "Are you sure you want to delete the internet from your start menu?" Dear lord, who would ever want to delete the internet from their computer after spending so much time downloading it?!
..start??
-First to have true tab support, reaaally fast tabs not chunky pieces of flab. Hit Ctrl+N one minute, you end up with a bazillion tabs. Yeah you can fill all those up and use them. Try clicking (shift+clicking) to open new links everywhere.. And then use the smart Ctrl+Tab to browse the last viewed pages, or all of them easily. You can easily figure out which page is what (from the titles) in a list of 500. How more pages would you want to fit in a browser?? Aside for that, really cool cascading or even tiling (right click on the tab for more options)
-Actually, if you're new and learning right click everywhere and pay close attention to the options revealed. The true power of the Opera is under the hood. And that is the OPTIONS everywhere. The older Opera versions had the options more out front, but that seemed to scare a lot of "lazy/zombie" users away, thus the new slick interface with more options as you go was created.
-Just think about this, compare the flab of FF or anything else to the slickness and tightness of Opera. So tiny, yet so many features well integrated. Thats one thing that adds to security, WITHOUT limiting any plugin possibilities. The set features are good, they have a reason of existance. If you need anything extra, all you have to do is know java, and you can stick it right in the interface WHEREVER you want it. For example, I have a bunch of applets here and there, one as a dictionary to pick up German words and give me English/Greek equivs. You could make anything, its up to you.
-If you're more of a seeker, once examining of all the interfaced options, go ahead and dig in the O dir, view all the ini files and see what you can do there. Opera's options are everywhere, left and right. But the idiot, even if he stared, would see nothing but pixels.
-I read a lot of silly comments like, oh, why can't opera have X behavior, X keys, X mouse gestures X whatever... Geez folks, are you that dumb? I was expecting to find nerds on here, not a bunch of hillbillies :P
All the above and a lot more can
be changed and defined in the said
options/prefences, just look around!
Getting to know Opera will only benefit you,
your surfing speed, and yields from the web.
-E-mail, and irc client also included. The e-mail client is more than I could ask for as far as e-mail goes. I read something about Active-X, and was like WTF??? E-mail was supposed to be, and SHOULD be text, and just text, no stupid html, with active x and active S and whatever else could bloat it more and make it a whole lot buggier. Opera's mail client is really powerful, smart and above all tiny and integrated. All in one sort of thing. The irc client is basic, but what else do you expect from a browser? Opera is basically your working swiss army knife, but don't expect a generous spoon for irc, why bload the code? Its pretty good for when you only have 5 mins, and want to use e-mail, irc and browse on someone else's comp.
-As mentioned somewhere above, opera can still run on my old crappy 333 laptop, FAST and efficiently. I barely notice the difference between my AMD 64 3400 and that piece of shit. (Except for screen size, and well, you can't overtab it.)
-But thats not all, I have been following and watching the behavior of those behind opera. And their stance on things. For example, the whole of Opera as a team are strong believers that all the options/prefences should be in the hands of the users. After reading the really dumb comments above, I must say, that if you don't like that overmentioned placed google search box. GO AHEAD AND REMOVE IT. I don't see why you would, since it IS USEFUL, but if you really want to... You have to dissasemble Opera, then find string x.... NO All you have to effing do is right click on the said box, and do.. remove from toolbar. TADA. Now you can go ahead and replace that with Yahoo, Xoo, Kaboo, kazavooo Whatever the heck you use. (I personally use fravia's set)
Sometimes slashdot is funny, but sometimes it is truly
Despite your very hostile (dare I say troll-ish) attitude to the people who have responded to you, I feel compelled to take your bait and try and explain why I feel that having a browser monopoly (even an open source one) is a problem.
See, you seem to think that if there was one supreme browser that was open sourced, everything would be groovy. I have news for you... there's this little thing called the 90% problem. More specifically, the problem with a lot of open source software is that it gets mostly finished (to the point where it is usable for the average geek - not for 'Joe Sixpack') and then the developers go on to other, more interesting projects. See, they're not being compensated for their time, so they want to work on what is 'fun' or 'exciting' instead of fixing the last couple of problems with a piece of software. Now, a non-open source company, like Opera, has a financial incentive to write that last 10%, however, a group of open source developers, like those working on Firefox, who are not getting paid to write user-friendly code, have virtually no incentive to go the 'last mile'. Plus, paid developers have to listen to their users, or they risk alienating their customers. Open Source developers are free to be horribly rude to their users and can ignore usability problems (becasue they feel that the way *they* use the software is the only correct way*) becuase they have no financial incentive to listen to their users.
Now, you're probably going to post a rude reply about how I must simply be a Microsoft apologist because I don't worship FireFox. To try and prevent that (not that it'll do any good), I would like to state that I believe that having multiple open source and closed source browsers all competing in the marketplace is the best way to spur innovation. Also, all things being equal, I will always pick open source software over *equal* closed source wares.
Finally, as someone who has been doing web development since Mosaic reigned supreme, it is my opinion that the current browser that is the closest to w3c compliance is Opera. Granted, it might not display everything quite the way you expect it to display (or quite the way it displays in FireFox), but before you start pointing and screaming about how Opera sucks, and FireFox is more compliant... go back and re-read the actual standards (you *have* read them thoroughly, haven't you?). Most of the time, I think you will find that Opera is actually conforming to the published standards, and that what you thought it *should* look like is actually due to a mis-reading of the standards (or possibly due to a false expectation, based upon FireFox's mis-rendering).
Bah... I'm really not anti-FireFox, despite the tone fo this post. I just get annoyed when people assume that FireFox (or even open source in general) is always the best. That mentality is almost as bad the people who think IE is the internet!
All of that said, I'm *still* waiting for any browser other than IE5+ or NS4 to support embedded fonts! =)
* I realize the tone of this is a tad bitter - I had a horrible experience when I submitted a FireFox bug a few months ago. Basically, FireFox was not following a w3c xhtml specification and when I submitted the bug, I got rudly told that the developers felt that the w3c's spec was not the right way to implement something, so FireFox would not be following that particular spec... Oh, and by the way: How dare I question the wisdom of the mighty and always-correct FireFox developers. Needless to say, I now consider FireFox my browser of last resort!
Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish and Not Quite As Tall As I'd Like To Be.
With several browser with about the same market share, the impact of viruses/worms targeting specific browser flaws will be lessened.
Clever signature text goes here.
Opera's internal buils are very close to passing Acid2.
Opera 9, AKA Merlin, is adding XSLT, designMode, more CSS3 stuff and "HTML5".