I installed Opera to review as replacement for Firefox, and must confess my disappointment as described by bangorme.
Control over my choice of services in my Internet browser MUST be first and foremost in the developers mind. Anyone that can defend the inability to eliminate any search engine, would have to be an uninformed idiot. I am in the Network security and support trade and my primary concerns are security, privacy and complete control over those issues!

If YOU continue to blindly utilize Google services, you are an uninformed and naive individual! I accept as reality, it is impossible to fully protect yourself from tracking and privacy violations, but to NOT attempt to minimize your exposure to these threats is insane. Since it is apparent I can not eliminate my exposure to Google and other tracking services within the Opera settings, I can not use OR endorse the Opera browser. I will promptly remove Opera from my system after I make this post and resume my search for a browser that respects "MY" right to privacy and security.