Opera's roadmap for Version > 12.16
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real-shaoran last edited by
Since Opera decided to use the chromiun engine I have "freezed" my opera installtion to 12.16. I have been using opera since 2002 and I've seen many changes in the browser, some were good, other not that much, but at the end of the day, I've always sticked with opera because I feel that it had nice features that other browser seemed not to care about.
I'm a web developer and one of my main tools is the amazing Opera Dragonfly. I use it every day and I love it. I've tested similar tools in Firefox, Safari, Chrome and non of these web inspectors seems to match the usability of dragonfly. I like that dragonfly has a nice and big console, where I can type a lot of commands let me inspect values of objects by hovering over them. This is something I always miss in the web inspectors from other browsers. I also like that when you're in the "Documents" mode (where you manipulate the DOM) you can click on any elemnt of the page, any image, hyperlink or object listening to any js-event like click, and dragonfly selects the element in the DOM. In the other inspectors, if you click on a hyperlink, the hyperlink activates and loads the page. In order to select an object like a hyperlink, you have always to press a button, then select it. This slows you down extremly when you are inspecting a lot of elements in the page. Because you always have to return to the web inspector, click on the select icon, click on the object, return to the inspector, etc, etc, etc.
Another feature of opera, which I consider to be kind of unique, is that you can map almost any key to any action. I use the "Opera 9.2 compatible" keyboard setup because then I can use the 1 key to switch to the tab on the left, or the 2 key switch to the tab on the right. This is amazing, because it enables you to browse through your tabs very quickly whitout having to use the mouse. If you're typing a lot and want to look quickly at some information on another tab, I just press 1 or 2 or whatever and return to the "typing" tab and continue writing, without having to take my hands away from the keyboard in search for the mouse (first you take your mouse, then you have to search for the dammed cursor, select the tab, click it..... what a waste of time).
I also like that when you are viewing some image galleries without javascript, you only need to press the space bar to go the next image or page.
I also like (and I think this is also unique) that you can set setting of any page, just make a right click and select "Block Content" to block annoying ads or select "Edit site preferences" where you have a ton of different settings (for every domain out there), you can even use your own js code and css code. And this is a feature I use a lot with some pages (when I don't agree with the width of some divs or background colors). I haven't seen that in other browsers (unless you install a ton of plugins that may work similar but not that good as in opera).
I like that opera never opens a new window when a pop up appears, instead this pop up appears as a regular tab. All other browsers will open a new window and I hate that.
So, as you see, there are some nice features in Opera that I really like and they are the reason why I use Opera, because it enables me to decide how to do things, instead of having to change my way or browsing.
Now I'm little bit worried. I've been testing the newer windows versions. On my test virtual machine I've currently installed version Opera 19, which has more features than first "next-generation" opera version. But all these nice and great features I've been loving, are gone. None of the things I described above exist anymore, or at least I don't know how to enable them.
So my question (finally ...) is: how does the roadmap for the linux version look like? Is it also going to become yet another chromium clone missing all great features I love and use? Are there any plans to implement them like in the version 12.60 or are they are just going to disappear?
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real-shaoran last edited by
Sorry, I meant 12.16 all the time. I don't know why I was thinking about 60 :doh:
note: I've changed the 60s with 16s
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real-shaoran last edited by
It would be nice if some opera dev could shed some light to this. Are any plan to port these function to the newer versions of opera?
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sanguinemoon last edited by
Originally posted by real-shaoran:
Sorry, I meant 12.16 all the time. I don't know why I was thinking about 60
Maybe because it will take version 60 to get Dragonfly and other features back in Chropera?
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real-shaoran last edited by
Originally posted by sgunhouse:
The developers have previously made comments about porting dragonfly, I haven't seen much about the rest of your post.
Thanks for the info. Could you please provide links as well, where I can read the comments?
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herold-kai last edited by
The last version of the Opera 12 family is 12.16 for **ix/***ux (32/64bit).
The last version (ever) is only available for 32bit-MS-Windows: Opera Mail 1.0;
It is a true Opera 12, but it is configured not to work as a Browser, which might be changed.I don't know which one has got less bugs. Who knows?
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ruario last edited by
Wit regards to single key shortcuts. These already exist in Opera 15+. You just have to enable them via preferences.
http://help.opera.com/opera/Mac/1326/en/fasterBrowsing.html#advanced
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cecilia last edited by
I've used Opera for over 10 years. I'm still using my 12.16 on Ubuntu. I just don't want to give up features like Notes, and others that many have already pointed out. Why should I settle for a lesser experience?
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ruario last edited by
You don't have to switch from 12.16 right now but there will be no more major releases of the Presto based browser so one day you may find you have to switch due to site compatibility.
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dummy4presto last edited by
`"...
Since Opera decided to use the chromiun engine I have "freezed" my opera installtion to 12.16
...";
I have done the same!..
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naxsa last edited by
I cant agree more with this post, the single most important feature to me is DragonFly. There are a lot of other smaller features that are important, but DragonFly is number one on my list by a long way.
Opera is trying to innovate and re-invents its browser, but for me they leaving behind many of its best innovations from previews releases.
Myself and my colleagues are currently investigating and evaluating FireFox and extensions/plug-ins that make it more like Opera 12.x was. FireBug seems to be the next best option but its no DragonFly. The sad tings is how many plug-ins it takes to make FireFox even close to what Opera was out of the box.
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johnlewis142 last edited by
It seems to me that Opera (and operating systems) are increasingly forgetting that not everyone uses or wants tablets or smart phones. The traditional screen plus keyboard is still the only sensible way of inputting data into a database for example.
I have used Opera from way back when you needed to pay for a licence, but was delighted when it became 'free to use'. I am quite happy with version 12.16 on Debian and will be reluctant to switch to the more recent versions (which I have installed on a Win7) as too many of the standard features we have been used to are missing.
My biggest gripe is the change to the way bookmarks are used, I currently have around 200 in my present bookmark list, many of which relate to my genealogy research so easy access to them is essential. Switching to Speed Dial and looking for them in a folder isn't anywhere near so simple. At least the Bookmarks Bar is still available so I can put the most common ones there.
