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Author Topic: Opera goes FREE!  (Read 21804 times)

Sentinel

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Opera goes FREE!
« on: September 20, 2005, 05:59 AM »
Today Opera Software have released version 8.5 of their Opera browser.

The good news is it is finally advert and registration free!  The press release is here: -

http://www.opera.com...eases/en/2005/09/20/

Edit: Oops, JeffK beat me to it here: https://www.donation...hp?topic=790.new#new although this topic thread may be a little more apt for the situation.

Designated "proofreading free" zone.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2005, 06:02 AM by Sentinel »

mouser

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Re: Opera goes FREE!
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2005, 10:49 AM »
very cool news.
having multiple browsers can only be better for all of us.

an interesting thing - opera statement of why Opera is now free:
http://www.opera.com/free/

"Opera has removed the banners, found within our browser, and the licensing fee. Opera's growth, due to tremendous worldwide customer support, has made today's milestone an achievable goal."

cough cough - nothing to do with firefox and ie being free - cough cough

rjbull

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Re: Opera goes FREE!
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2005, 03:50 AM »
So how are Opera going to make any money?  Surely few people will pay for premium support?

Carol Haynes

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Re: Opera goes FREE!
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2005, 05:44 AM »
So how are Opera going to make any money?  Surely few people will pay for premium support?

Presumably by premium email accounts (why would anyone use this?) and advertising on their website. Presumably they could diversify a bit too into webservices or ther software.

Can't help wondering how long it will be before it is killed off altogether or donated as an open source project ...

vamp07

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Re: Opera goes FREE!
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2005, 06:28 AM »
I Love opera but since I cant get support of RoboForm I just stopped using it. Amazing how a simple little add on is more important to me then the browser which I do consider superior.

Sentinel

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Re: Opera goes FREE!
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2005, 07:09 AM »
Apparently they are already doing quite well from sales to hardware manufactures for embedding Opera into mobile devices.  This is likely to provide the bulk of the revenue for the foreseeable future.  No doubt they sat down with their financiers and worked out that many hardcore users will be happy to buy premium support and the increased level of use and ultimately revenue from searches generated from Opera going 'free' would actually make them more money than their existing Shareware model.

Good luck to them as it really is an excellent product.
Designated "proofreading free" zone.
« Last Edit: September 21, 2005, 07:14 AM by Sentinel »

rjbull

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Re: Opera goes FREE!
« Reply #6 on: September 21, 2005, 09:32 AM »
So how are Opera going to make any money?  Surely few people will pay for premium support?

Presumably by premium email accounts (why would anyone use this?) and advertising
Anti-spam measures?  That's one reason why I still use my CompuServe ID: their spam controls are ferocious (sometimes too much so).

rjbull

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Re: Opera goes FREE!
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2005, 09:34 AM »
I Love opera but since I cant get support of RoboForm I just stopped using it.
I've never even looked at RoboForm, but, could you get the same functionality from macro programs that you might run anyway?

Carol Haynes

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Re: Opera goes FREE!
« Reply #8 on: September 21, 2005, 11:27 AM »
Probably but RoboForm is very easy to use and well integrated into Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape and Maxthon. They all have the ability to save passwords natively but RoboForm does more than that, and what's more it is very easy to recover all your data if your system does the big firework. There are even versions for handhelds and for use with memory sticks.

If you haven't tried it is worth a look.

mouser

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Re: Opera goes FREE!
« Reply #9 on: September 21, 2005, 11:32 AM »
ill add my praise for ai roboform;
seems there is a lot of interest in roboform for opera but opera won't provide an api to make it possible.
come on opera, time to join the party.

Josh

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Re: Opera goes FREE!
« Reply #10 on: September 26, 2005, 05:00 AM »
I Love opera but since I cant get support of RoboForm I just stopped using it. Amazing how a simple little add on is more important to me then the browser which I do consider superior.

Agreed, I get flamed every time I make a post requesting it on opera's forums. They sit there and whine about extensions being bad for a browser from a security standpoint, but I feel that if a user is dumb enough to hit OK every time some site asks them to install something, then they A. Need to be educated and B. Shouldnt be browsing sites that would attempt to install these things automatically. Plus, with opera, they could easily make a system where only approved "extensions" if you will, work with the browser. AI Roboform puts the wand to shame in many aspects and opera's form fill capability leaves ALOT to be desired (Yes, I know you can use the notes feature, but why should I have to do that when I can simply hit one button and BAM, fill everything on the form?). Oh well, I guess its hopeful at best since the userbase on opera.com seem hell bent on making it so that opera doesnt get extensions. Freedom of choice is good, lack thereof will be opera's downfall I feel. Firefox got where it is for being customizable in EVERY ASPECT not just the UI or its INI files. You dont have to sift through mounds of ini files to get firefox to do what you want, with opera you do. Yes, you can argue that having everything built right in is a good thing, but isnt that the same thing microsoft is getting hounded over? Building everything into the os? Same principle here (I Know its not exactly the same thing as an OS != a browser, but the principle is still the same). Give the user a choice of what they want in their browser, dont force them to use what the devs put in which in some cases is subpar as they only do enough to get it in there and working in a basic sense. Opera is by far a superior browser in every aspect to firefox, but firefox has that one thing (as mentioned above) that opera doesnt, FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2005, 06:36 AM by Josh »