Nice rant but pretty much pointless. The new Opera IS now the official browser and that is the long and short of it. It is far more compatible with popular sites around the internet and it is getting better all the time as more features are added. I'm not going to go into the reasons given for abandoning the Presto version but you can do that with a little searching. We've been fielding these same questions for months now and in truth - it's gets a little old and becomes a little tiresome when the same questions are posed almost on a daily basis week after week. A little searching on your part would provide answers to the questions you're now posing.
Bottom line? I like the new Opera. I believe Opera is headed in the right direction and I look forward to the new features that will undoubtedly be added to the browser. Yes, I could use Chrome if I wanted but I try and use as little of Google's products as possible. I find their attitude about privacy rather cavalier at best. Firefox is an option but currently has a font-related bug for those on Windows 8.1 and frankly, I don't find it more compelling than Opera v.18. Many of the features of the older Opera suite were features I did not use so I do not feel the "loss" you and others talk about. Not sure what else to tell you. If the new Opera isn't doing it for you, keep v.12.16 and run the two side by side until Opera Next has the features you require. Your only other option is to find another browser. Good luck.
