back to article Opera browser tries to make sweet music for the ears of Chromebook users

Norwegian web developer Opera has created a version of its software optimised for Google’s ChromeOS. The company claims the release is “the world’s first alternative browser optimized for Chromebooks”. The announcement of the browser doesn’t really elaborate on that claim, other than to say the application “… was built based …

  1. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Happy

    Seems like Opera is concentrating on the small-but-seemingly-important market segment of users who want to get around group policy settings - whether on the corporate LAN or school Chromebooks.

  2. acousticm

    I'm reading this on Opera GX

    Switched back to Opera a year (or maybe two, how time flies) ago.

    Then discovered Opera GX, which is geared at gaming but even if you're not a gamer is an even smoother and more pleasurable browsing experience than regular opera.

    I find it hard to pinpoint why this is the case ...

    But opera certainly has stolen my desktop

    Now maybe I should look into this synch-ing of opera settings across all my browsers and desktops :)

    1. AdamAdam

      Re: I'm reading this on Opera GX

      By "stolen my desktop" you are not referring to the dubious business practices of Opera(now owned by Chinese investor group)?

      https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/01/21/opera-predatory-loans/

  3. RyokuMas
    Stop

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

    ... thinking back to the late 90s/early 2000s - Microsoft got in a lot of trouble for bundling IE with Windows, ending up with them having to (among other things) offer users a choice of which browser to install upon first run.

    So how is it that Chromebooks do not have the same requirement? Is it just that there are no other browsers out there until now, is it "one rule for them"... or has the internet simply forgotten (or is still too busy ranting about Microsoft)?

    I'll admit, I've never used a Chromebook, so I'm in the dark here - genuine ignorance on my part. Deliberate too, as even if they were the best machines on the planet, no amazing functionality or user experience on the part of the hardware/software can overcome Google's reputation in my eyes. Only reason I'm stil on Windows is that I've yet to successfully get a Linux install on a machine...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

      I think I agree entirely with everything you say.

      Including (and I realise this is inflammatory on this site) the frustration with getting (your particular flavour of) Linux to install and the frankly disappointing and borderline hostile experience when it does.

    2. Mike_R
      Linux

      Re: Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

      Reading exercise: https://itsfoss.com/install-ubuntu/

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. RyokuMas

        Re: Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

        Hate to say it, but it's Debian I need... and these walkthroughs (can't remeber the one I used when I last tried this) are great - until something goes wrong.

    3. Fr. Ted Crilly Silver badge

      Re: Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

      Your not holding it right...

    4. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Re: how is it that Chromebooks do not have the same requirement

      Because nobody has thrown a lawsuit against Apple for that yet ?

    5. big_D Silver badge

      Re: Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

      Because ChromeOS is less than 10% of the market, whereas Windows was around 90% of the market, at the time.

  4. xyz Silver badge

    Been using Opera for ages but...

    Can someone at Opera please read this...

    That ******* message bar at the top of the screen... You know the one with 2 million lettuce leaves saved icon and those stupid howdy doody nessages. Please kill that nonsense off. It drives me insane. TIA

  5. Howard Sway Silver badge

    There’s even a built-in crypto wallet.

    Really? There's a brilliant idea, storing your money in the same piece of software that is connected to the internet all day long. Which we must then assume has zero vulnerabilities and will remain vuln free forever, because one single missed edge case in the code resulting in your wallet being nabbed is a small risk not worth worrying about?

    And such a feature will not in any way make this an attractive target for the ne'er-do-wells? I suppose the only upside is the fact that hardly anyone will use it, but that's just a forlorn hope of security by obscurity.

  6. Neil Barnes Silver badge

    integrated WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook Messenger.

    Er, why? They're really not selling it to me...

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Re: integrated WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook Messenger.

      And, on the other hand, that is definitely putting me off of using Opera

    2. Martipar

      Re: integrated WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook Messenger.

      The only exist in the optional sidebar. I have a few distant friends who use Facebook and having the messenger in the sidebar is really useful. Opera GX has Twitch in the sidebar and i'm seriously considering giving GX a go just for that. I've used Opera for about 15 years now and having a built in adblocker and VPN is really quite useful, the VPN is about as basic as it gets but it works for most of what I need one for (watching region locked Youtube videos posted to Reddit mostly) I'm sure people who actually need a VPN would find it lacking in features though.

    3. Zippy´s Sausage Factory

      Re: integrated WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook Messenger.

      I guess if you used Flock back in the day, then this is the sort of thing you'll like.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Norwegian?

    Try Chinese.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_(web_browser)

    1. JDPower666

      Re: Norwegian?

      Try reading it again - "Norwegian developer", not "Norwegian owned"

  8. Zbig

    I was recently troubleshooting some obscure bug in a web interface and that involved trying different browsers. At the end of the Opera's installation process I saw the mouse cursor move by itself, launch Windows Settings and navigate them to set Opera as the default browser. I kid you not. Luckily that was a VM so l just nuked the snapshot from the orbit. After seeing this crap Opera is now firmly on my shit list till I kick the bucket.

  9. The Sprocket

    A change of the search engine choice wasn't taking after 4-5 tries (as well as restarting all sorts of things to clear the original selection) so Opera on my MacBook Air got the bin. That was short-lived.

    Back to Firefox.

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