Problem with Default Search Engines

[Deleted User]

Deleted User last edited by

So what exactly is wrong with a 2% market share, when the market is in the hundreds of millions, at least?

People like me used Opera (and I still use 9.51 for much of my browsing) because unlike the rest, it had a usable user interface. I don't really care about the underlying rendering engine: if that needs to be changed, fine. But instead of keeping the same interface around the new engine, they created a completely new UI which as far as I can tell is exactly like the unusable UI of all the other browsers. So what reason do any of us loyal users have to stick with Opera? (And I've been using Opera since sometime in the '90s, long enough ago that I actually PAID for the first versions.)

[lando242]

lando242 last edited by

Well, theres the door guys. Its not going back the way it was so why are you still here crying about it? All you are doing is pestering the people that do like it. No devs here, no focus groups or census takers. Just users that like where this train is headed and want to see more. Quit raining on our parade just because its not your parade anymore.

Vivaldi is being built for just your market segment. Move on.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

@lando242 Here's one user that agrees with you! I tried the old Opera but could never use it daily because of the terrible rendering issues. New Opera has pretty much eliminated this problem. The features in the previous Opera were unique but, for me at least, I'd give them up for a browser that isn't a nightmare for the team to keep maintaining. At least now they can focus on introducing new features - I don't believe 2 years is a long time. In fact Opera have done a lot, imo in that time and there are now features other browsers don't have. I've also tried Vivaldi, mainly to see what the fuss is all about but in tech preview and without a stable version anywhere close to completion it's currently worse than Old Opera with bugs a plenty - how people moan about Opera's 'lack of progress' but sing a buggy tech preview's praises I'll never know. Each to their own I guess. I do agree that we need to give this tired old argument a rest now and move on.

Btw, I am no fanboy as I'll happily switch to any browser that fulfils my needs. It just happens right now that's Opera.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

At least now they can focus on introducing new features

Yeah new features like:

• Remove ability to remove default search engines
• Remove full list of recently closed tabs
• Remove bookmark sharing
• Sync that doesn't really sync SD across devices, buggy and duplicating entries
• A new Speed Dial design / against-thumbnail functionality lots despise.
• And so on...

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

@rafaelluik As browsers will forever be implementing features/changes, there's always a good chance those issues will get addressed. All new features added surely have potential to evolve and improve over time. Who knows where Opera will be in another two years.

[tisme]

tisme last edited by admin

Anyhow, this issue is a moot now. Since the news about Opera Software upcoming sale has been published.

[Deleted User]

Deleted User last edited by

lando242: Well, I could just as easily point you to the door. In fact, to several doors, labeled Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer (or whatever MS is calling it these days). All of those are already exactly what you seem to want Opera to become, so why aren't you using them?

Likewise, if I could find another browser that meets my needs (which Vivaldi doesn't seem to, from the descriptions on its web site), I'd be switching ASAP. But AFAIK Opera is the only thing that has a chance, if the people running the company would pay attention to their user base instead of trying to run the company into the ground - which from the post above, it seems they may have managed to do.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

there's always a good chance those issues will get addressed

There's also the chance that doesn't matter how much detailed feedback they receive Opera will fold their ears and sing "lalala" while they override everyone's Speed Dial with the experimental version a number of didn't want, and making it hard to add new pages without adding to bookmarks first or always ending up without thumbnails. Oops, already happened.

Or ignore search engine choice for more than 2 years - oops already happening too- ok maybe in another 3-5 years. We must wait right because surely there are no other browsers out there hunting for users...

Who knows where Opera will be in another two years.

Who knows, indeed.

[shagratt]

shagratt last edited by

Youre lucky. I posted a similar tread but some ret....arded op closed it saying it was too much of the same kind ... I used the search and there is NO ONE POST with an answer from opera devs and cause he blocked my post I will never have the chance of receiving any anwers. Seems that the new Opera policy is "we care a shit about the people who used our browser for years"

[daumiller]

daumiller last edited by

I reported a bug about this a while ago, and got a response today.
"default search engines cannot be removed but we let our user to create and use their own search engines."

It appears they have no intention of changing this. I've already switched browsers. This is just insane that they are forcing these search engines. I'm curious exactly how much was required for them to sell out their users. The old Opera has been dead for quite a while; I guess these kinds of things should just be expected now...

[leocg]

leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by

Youre lucky. I posted a similar tread but some ret....arded op closed it saying it was too much of the same kind ... I used the search and there is NO ONE POST with an answer from opera devs and cause he blocked my post I will never have the chance of receiving any anwers.

You have found this topic about the same thing, right? And there are others.

Btw, this is an users' forum and although some Opera employees may come here from time to time, you should not expect any answers from them.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

The search bar is still as wonderful as it was when this thread was started. You cannot type anything into the search bar that starts with y, d, z, b, or w, or it will start searching Yahoo, Duckduckgo, Amazon, Bing, or Wikipedia. Fortunately, since Google is my default, I can type anything that starts with "g" without any untoward behavior. I thought my browser had been hijacked the first time it happened, because I was trying to get to a website that started with "z" and it kept searching Amazon. I love Amazon, and go there all the time, but it's not the only website in creation.

An easy fix for that would be to change the shortcut to require a capital letter in order to change search engines. It is probably rare for most people to want to use another search engine, and it wouldn't be that much trouble to use the shift key and a letter in order to switch to a different one on those rare occasions. In fact, that would be more in accordance with the way things have been in the Windows Universe for a long time. Or, they could set up a shortcut key so that, when you discover that it has reverted to the wrong search engine, you could press the shortcut and have Opera do the same search in whatever your default search engine is.

It is much more time-consuming to type something into the search bar, then figure out what the problem is, then have to redo your search. That problem does not occur if the actual search starts with a capitalized letter, but how often do you or I do that, other than with a copy and paste? It is extraordinarily inconvenient to have the search engine change like that.

[davidr]

davidr last edited by

The search bar is still as wonderful as it was when this thread was started. You cannot type anything into the search bar that starts with y, d, z, b, or w, or it will start searching Yahoo, Duckduckgo, Amazon, Bing, or Wikipedia. Fortunately, since Google is my default, I can type anything that starts with "g" without any untoward behavior. I thought my browser had been hijacked the first time it happened, because I was trying to get to a website that started with "z" and it kept searching Amazon. I love Amazon, and go there all the time, but it's not the only website in creation.

What version of Opera are you using? In v. 32, when I type in the search/ULR bar (is that the one you mean?), if I type, for instance, "yerba buena" or "zoominfo," it uses my chosen default search engine (DuckDuckGo) to search for those terms. It only goes to Yahoo or Amazon if I type a y or z followed by a space.