Two concurrently usable versions of Opera?
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lykanthricaura last edited by
Currently I use 12.xx and 21.0. I would like to update them both, 12.xx version to something more recent which would allow them to work concurrently..? I use two Opera browsers. Yes. I have to. Dont ask. Is it that every major update can work concurrently? Like I can use v 21.xx with v 22.x ...?
And although I dont do this in Linux. Can it be done? (I use Ubuntu and Arch Linux)
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blackbird71 last edited byThe latest version of 'old' Opera 12.xx is 12.17, and other than possible security updates, there will be no further updates to that line. The latest "stable" version of 'new' Opera is... uhmm... whatever it is at the moment (currently 24.0.1558.64), since it's now being updated quite frequently. Since both 'old' and 'new' versions coexist quite nicely on a system, updating within the 'old' and 'new' families are done independently from each other, so that what occurs with one family doesn't affect the other family. The 'old' versions, once installed, allowed user-selection of whether/how subsequent "auto-updates" would occur; the 'new' version does not provide a user-control over "auto-updating" - they simply happen each time a new version is issued by Opera.
There was a point in the development of 'new' Opera when auto-updating was first introduced, but I'm not sure where that was. Prior to that point, new versions had to be manually updated/placed. That you are still using 21 implies that it existed prior to the introduction of auto-updating, else it would have already had its version bumped automatically. The general philosophy of 'new' Opera is that the 'new' regularly-installed versions aren't intended to run concurrently with prior versions, but instead are intended to replace the previous versions.
Use of "portable" installations of various versions of 'new' Opera might get around that barrier, but I've not experimented with it personally. By renaming Opera's auto-updater file to something else, you can block auto-updating in the 'new' version, and you'd have to do that within each older portable 'new' Opera version running in parallel to keep each from immediately auto-updating to the same, latest version as soon as you ran the browser(s).
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lykanthricaura last edited by
Its not that I only need to use a latest version of v12.x. Any will do. As long as I can use them both concurrently. Basically. I want to be able to run two concurrent versions of Opera on my computer such that each one will have its own independent user data, Bookmarks, Saved Passwords, History. Especially History.
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blackbird71 last edited by
My experience has been that the best and surest way to run concurrent (simultaneous) versions of Opera is to use Opera's "portable/USB" installation options, each copy installed into different-named folders on the hard drive and separately identified on any manually-created access shortcuts (to avoid user confusion). This avoids Windows registry 'entanglements' or OS confusion, but it also means that some of the convenience benefits of a "fully registered install" aren't available. In the portable installation concept, there is typically only one profile folder in each installation (instead of different profiles for the various multi-user-account names), it being shared by any user account that employs it; likewise, some of the OS-provided default options may not be available to a user with the portable install. On three of my systems, I currently have at least 3 Opera different Opera versions that can be, and have been, run fully concurrently and independently.
A note of caution, if one seeks to run different-build versions on a system, whether portable or standard installations: to preserve the version/build, auto-updating must somehow be blocked, else each copy/version will auto-update itself each time it's run... with all the copies ending up at the same version/build point as a result. With Presto Opera versions (Opera 12.xx and below), auto-updates could be blocked from within the browser user controls; not so with Blink Opera versions... those require the updater file to be renamed or removed to prevent the version from automatically being bumped whenever Opera releases the next version/build.
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