Bing as Default Search Engine in Opera 26
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runewake last edited by
I will be leaving as well (User since Opera 10) if Bing is not restored. Every change since 12 has can hardly be called a correct one and the degradation of the final feature I came to Opera for is unacceptable. You have taken my speed dial, my search customization, my mail, my irc and series of other features.
You have until Friday night to remedy this (patch downloaded to my PC). That should be ample time to both develop and test the return of a search engine.
I will no longer recommend Opera as a result of this, no matter the resolution of this. Such poor product management deserves anger.
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blackbird71 last edited byHmm. How many more single-post posters will issue their several-day ultimatums to Opera? There comes a point when they look like the same individual registering under different names, using the very same m.o. - all trying to create the appearance of a 'negative' user tidal wave. Tip to that poster: I've read posts critical of Blink Opera for a very long time now... and none of them previously have gone to the absurd lengths of issuing couple-day ultimatums to Opera. Excuse me, but your pattern of immaturity is showing...
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christoph142 last edited by
they look like the same individual registering under different names
Given that they do have IPs belonging to different countries this user is either very conscious about doing so or dropping Bing just hits another group of casual users that wouldn't feel the need to post here before.
I'm favoring second explanation. -
kiuro last edited by
I don't know if the ultimatum posters are the same individual, but I'd like to add my vote for fixing this ASAP. Such browser behavior is very annoying; no warning that my own default was changed and no way to fix it (at least let me select one of the 'Other search engines' as default; still annoying but at least there's an easy UI fix). Having to type that extra letter when I search with Bing now isn't much effort, but it constantly reminds me of this problem.
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runewake last edited by
Definitely not the same people, just a lot of people that are coming from the shadows. Poor product management tends to do this. I actually had an account years ago, it got deleted for reasons I do not recall.
To address the personal attack by blackbird (I hope you understand the irony of your immaturity comment!): This is due to the fact that 1) this is a feature that already existed. 2) this fix is trivial. 3) Opera should know better than this. The omnibar is a huge feature to have destroyed overnight and should be top of their PO's list. If it is not than our needs and intentions for browsers are not the same (not even close) and they are no longer worth the trouble.
It is the metaphorical removal of the start button.
the Bing search engine inclusion deal Opera Software had with Microsoft just expired and MS decided to not renew or pay the value Opera was asking for it. Opera then replaced it with DuckDuckGo either because they made a deal with them or by "philanthropy".
I doubt this considering that it is still included as the search for "define *".
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windlibra last edited by
the Bing search engine inclusion deal Opera Software had with Microsoft just expired and MS decided to not renew or pay the value Opera was asking for it. Opera then replaced it with DuckDuckGo either because they made a deal with them or by "philanthropy".
I doubt this considering that it is still included as the search for "define *".
I believe it's too lazy for developers to remove the code at that moment.
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blackbird71 last edited by
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To address the personal attack by blackbird (I hope you understand the irony of your immaturity comment!): This is due to the fact that 1) this is a feature that already existed. 2) this fix is trivial. 3) Opera should know better than this. The omnibar is a huge feature to have destroyed overnight and should be top of their PO's list. If it is not than our needs and intentions for browsers are not the same (not even close) and they are no longer worth the trouble. ...The immaturity lies in coming to a forum and loudly threatening to dump a software program if its designers don't reverse some change you dislike, within a day or a week or whatever of your complaint. If you don't like a piece of software, say so politely, give your reasons, and just do whatever you feel you have to... without all the immature drama of threats, ultimatums and deadlines.
For the record, I still use Opera 12.14 instead of 12.17 precisely because Opera, for reasons it deems adequate, "locked" the default search engine list on Presto browsers starting with 12.15. I came to the MyOpera forum and here on several occasions and stated my reasons for opposing that change (in large measure because I prefer StartPage, which is not in the default list). Opera elected to stick with its decision... so I simply made my choice to stick with 12.14.
Something similar happened when Opera elected to replace the Presto family with Blink versions. Those who inhabit this forum for any length of time know well my objections to the Blink versions to date, because I've attempted to politely state them on several occasions over the past many months. While I recognize Blink Opera is still evolving, it hasn't yet met some of my critical needs, so I chose FireFox as my primary browser for now. I still come here to help Opera users to the degree I can, considering it a form of "payback" to all those who've helped me in Opera's forums for many years. And if Opera eventually includes some key features I need, I will have no problem in returning to it in its Blink form. My point is that there is no need for posting drama and ultimatums. Opera is a free browser... and there are at least a dozen other free browsers "out there"... politely voice your concerns, make whatever choices/changes you need to, and simply get on with your life.
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Deleted User last edited by
I wouldn't touch a Russian (or Chinese for that matter) browser for anything. You're welcome to your Yandex browser but there are far better browsers available and certainly Opera is one of these.
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Deleted User last edited by
Many people wanted Duckduckgo as default search engine, now they have it but want Bing too.
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A Former User last edited by
Any search engine should be capable of being set as the user's default if they choose, unless there are serious security concerns with it.
Restrictions because of commercial deals are a PITA.
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8sheldons8 last edited by
I too prefer Bing, I also greatly prefer Opera. So for now I'll just browse to Bing first to do my searches and hope it gets fixed eventually.
I also made use of the ability to hide the search bar on the Speed Dial page as soon as I read about it on these forums. I don't use Google search and it frees up some space for the stuff I care about.
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christoph142 last edited by admin
As I said I was following up:
- I did get an explanation, but unfortunately I'm legally not allowed to share it with you. I can tell you this much: Opera didn't swap Bing with DuckDuckGo because they felt like it, but they did so for a reason. IMO Opera's non-communication policy often offends people and isn't the best idea after all, but as I'm not working for them, I can't change that.
- I'm going with solution number 2 (out of my mentioned comment). I was reassured by Opera's devs that they really want this to happen themselves. They just didn't come up with a solution yet that prevents third-party programs from fiddling with your search engines.
I get that this maybe isn't exactly what you guys wanted to hear, but I also think that it's good news that there's hope for custom default search engines to happen eventually. And maybe you can even help making this happen faster:
Does anyone in here have an idea how to solve mentioned issue? -
blackbird71 last edited by
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Does anyone in here have an idea how to solve mentioned issue?One possible idea? If there is a user-space Opera settings file that cannot be written to by malware/3rd-parties from within the browser web-space area, put a user setting in that file which allows a user to select his default search engine from either the regular current default search engine list or from a list of optional/custom search engines. If that setting is pointed at the regular default list, only one of those "golden" search engines can be used by Opera (perhaps defaulting to the current primary default engine if nothing else is specified in a second selector setting). If the first setting is instead pointed to the optional/custom list, then whatever a user selects from that list (via another selector setting) will be used by the browser. If search engine hijacking should occur against that optional/custom list, then it would be a straightforward matter for the user to reset the browser by re-selecting the initial setting to point back to the default list, restarting Opera, and getting the browser search unhijacked.
In this way, use of a search engine from the current default list would be proofed against hijacking just as is now the case; use of a default engine from the optional/custom list would be available for those wanting it instead, but would carry the 'normal' risk of potential hijacking - if such hijacking were to occur, control of the browser could be easily re-established by pointing the "list" user setting back to the current default list and restarting the browser.
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derek1388 last edited by
there also is a unique ID in all the search entrys so that the search engines now with opera can track us forever even if we switch ip , country or gender.
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theashigaru last edited by
@christoph142 Thank you for looking further into this. I'm glad there is some reassurance from the development team that they would like to bring Bing back, even if you can't share Opera's full reasoning.
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runewake last edited by
As I said I was following up:
I did get an explanation, but unfortunately I'm legally not allowed to share it with you. I can tell you this much: Opera didn't swap Bing with DuckDuckGo because they felt like it, but they did so for a reason. IMO Opera's non-communication policy often offends people and isn't the best idea after all, but as I'm not working for them, I can't change that.
I'm going with solution number 2 (out of my mentioned comment). I was reassured by Opera's devs that they really want this to happen themselves. They just didn't come up with a solution yet that prevents third-party programs from fiddling with your search engines.I get that this maybe isn't exactly what you guys wanted to hear, but I also think that it's good news that there's hope for custom default search engines to happen eventually. And maybe you can even help making this happen faster:
Does anyone in here have an idea how to solve mentioned issue?This is not possible. Any program or file on a computer can be read and modified by other programs. Even if you encrypt it you'll be able to read it and change it. Grab a hex editor and start hacking. If they truly intend to solve this in that way they will never have a solution. We already have solutions to crack their default search engines. How is this any different? The only solution that 'might' work is to route all searches through Opera servers and select the proper search engine to use based on data maintained server side. This is less than optimal (if Opera servers die you can't search, you need an account or this doesn't work etc) and could be worked around still.
Sounds like I need a new browser. Clearly Opera's priorities need to be reevaluated.
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Deleted User last edited by
I'm going with solution number 2 (out of my mentioned comment). I was reassured by Opera's devs that they really want this to happen themselves. They just didn't come up with a solution yet that prevents third-party programs from fiddling with your search engines.
I don't understand how solution 2 is supposed to protect us from malware changing default. If we can just replace the JSON file and bring back a default from before, can't malware just edit or replace the JSON to add something random?
sidenote: I miss Bing as well.
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l0uwii last edited by
Seriously upset that Bing is no longer able to be selected as the default search engine, and frankly I'm not going to settle for a manual add even if I could set manual search engines as the default.
I did get an explanation, but unfortunately I'm legally not allowed to share it with you. I can tell you this much: Opera didn't swap Bing with DuckDuckGo because they felt like it, but they did so for a reason. IMO Opera's non-communication policy often offends people and isn't the best idea after all, but as I'm not working for them, I can't change that.
I'm going with solution number 2 (out of my mentioned comment). I was reassured by Opera's devs that they really want this to happen themselves. They just didn't come up with a solution yet that prevents third-party programs from fiddling with your search engines.All I (and probably most here) want is the ability to select Bing as the default search engine in the Search Engine settings menu, drop-down style. Besides maybe Yandex, I struggle to see what other search engines would even be meaningful to add. Bing has 20% of all search marketshare now. If there's some legal conundrum or some under the table deal that Opera made which has resulted in Bing being removed, Opera better settle it quick. Count me out if it means that Bing is a second class citizen when it comes to search engines on the browser. In the mean time, I've switched back to Internet Explorer, though I'm none too happy about it.
