Bing as Default Search Engine in Opera 26
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undercovergypsy last edited by
Has this been solved? I love opera, it is fast and pleasant. But Bing is my choice of search and really, man has walked on the moon, this should not be difficult.
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lando242 last edited by
There is a workaround, yes. You have to edit a .json file. If you are asking if its been changed in the default browser setting, well, no. I don't think theres even been a release since this thread was started so it would be kind of impossible for that to have happened. That said, don't expect it anytime soon. While the devs have said its and item they intend to fix they have given no indication that its high priority.
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amthonie last edited by
Bad move. A user should be able to choose a search engine of it's own liking. Maybe I'll install Opera again in a year or so. For now; byebye. Uninstalling...
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genesishep last edited by
Completely unacceptable to take away user choice over a contract squabble (Anyone who has convinced themselves that this has to do with malware or licensing is naive). Removing the ability to set Bing as default search does absolutely nothing to protect the user. It simply produces a barrier which makes things slightly more difficult, a tactic that sadly will work on many people. Thank you for posting the workaround!
As a long, long time Opera user I'm extremely disappointed in this move. Those of us who think about this even a little bit see through the malware argument. If Bing were truly such a security threat shouldn't Opera warn users who even attempt to visit the page? If the problem were real there would be zero liability in doing so. It becomes even more suspect when you factor in articles such as this which bring into question the validity of the malware claims in the first place:
Bottom line is if Bing is truly a threat we need to protected from then Opera is doing a disservice to its users by not instituting a warning each time the page is visited or better yet, blocking it entirely. If it is no more dangerous than any other search engine, as the article I cited claims, then stop limiting your users by ending this.
On another note, I do see the irony in a company who was once taken to court for limiting its users personal browser choice being placed in the role of victim in a very similar circumstance.
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A Former User last edited by
Those of us who think about this even a little bit see through the malware argument. If Bing were truly such a security threat shouldn't Opera warn users who even attempt to visit the page?
You should think a little bit more then. The issue is letting users add Bing and set as default would open the gates for any malware to add and set a malicious search engine as default. That's why they need to implement security against this before allowing the user to select any search engine.
The solution you have in your head is white-listing but imagine the developers having to white-list every website in the web that can be added as search engine? That's not happening.
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elcanton last edited by
@candytaco thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!
bing is extremely important for me as I very often stay in mainland china. the default for chinese users is baidu - which works terribly with english and google doesnt work well for simplified chinese (and it is blocked)
Bing is the very only thing that can handle both perfectly... -
wiley264 last edited by
So let me make sure I'm understanding this.
We can't have a UI to add a search engine because malware could use that to add a malicious search engine.
Instead, we have to edit a JSON file to add a search engine... which malware TOTALLY can't use to add a malicious search engine.
Ultimately, sufficiently advanced malware is indistinguishable from the user, regardless of platform and regardless of method (simulated clicks, file edits, etc).
On Windows, the best you can probably do is put the JSON configuration in Program Files, where editing it require admin privileges. If that's the intent, though, then why are you overwriting it and making me angry all over again with every update?
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padr1n0 last edited by
Just wanted to add that candytaco's solution worked for me. Also Bing supposedly has a webpage that allows you to do this at http://www.bing.com/set/search. Hope it works and hope Opera comes around to fixing this. It's probably a money issue.
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A Former User last edited by
We can't have a UI to add a search engine because malware could use that to add a malicious search engine.
Instead, we have to edit a JSON file to add a search engine... which malware TOTALLY can't use to add a malicious search engine.Wrong, you can recover Bing via the json because the json is official from a prior Opera version, any further alterations in that json will make it invalid in their security verification and Opera won't allow you to use it.
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lando242 last edited by
any further alterations in that json will make it invalid in their security verification and Opera won't allow you to use it.
I remove entries in the json all the time to free up shortcut letters. Wouldn't that trigger the same problem?
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vames last edited by
Bad move. A user should be able to choose a search engine of it's own liking. Maybe I'll install Opera again in a year or so. For now; byebye. Uninstalling...
I have also un-installed Opera from my computer. Going with Google's rendering engine created a browser that took away many basic features. It took a while before I became OK with all these changes, and then now these guys feel the need to take away my choice to choose my default search engine. I mean, are they for real?
I've gone back to Firefox and awaiting the launch of Spartan.
[mod edit: partly removed. No need to curse people. Bye.]
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A Former User last edited by
any further alterations in that json will make it invalid in their security verification and Opera won't allow you to use it.
I remove entries in the json all the time to free up shortcut letters. Wouldn't that trigger the same problem?
I just tried to "hack" the Amazon entry, replacing it with a startpage.com config. It didn't work.
Opera will check that the file was adulterated and ignore it and falling back to only 1 default search engine (may depend on region), you kinda bug it. See malware can't get in... -
wiley264 last edited by
I'm also removing Opera from my machines. I have no interest in running the only browser that won't let its users pick a search engine.
This whole situation (including the speed dial page) smells a lot like a backroom deal between Opera and Google.
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rainspa last edited by
Opera Beta has the option for Bing as default search again so I guess the next stable version will have it too if you care to wait or install the Beta version.
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