Opera browser tries to make sweet music for the ears of Chromebook users
- Reference: 1625468225
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/07/05/opera_for_chromeos/
- Source link:
The company claims the release is “the world’s first alternative browser optimized for Chromebooks”. The [1]announcement of the browser doesn’t really elaborate on that claim, other than to say the application “… was built based on the Opera Browser for Android with custom optimizations that deliver a full-fledged laptop experience while maintaining all of its unique features”.
Among those features are integrated WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook Messenger. “This makes it the only browser to offer this functionality on Chromebook,” the post states by way of justification of its optimisation claims.
[2]
Would-be users are also told that the inclusion of a VPN, ad-blocker, and “protection from annoying GDPR-related cookie dialogs” will combine to “make your browsing experience smooth and joyful”.
[3]
There’s even a built-in crypto wallet.
[4]Six years in the making, Vivaldi Mail arrives alongside version 4.0 of the company's browser
[5]Firefox 89: Can this redesign stem browser's decline?
[6]Firefox to adopt Chrome's new approach to extensions – sans the part that threatens ad blockers
“This release completes the Opera ecosystem, making Opera available on all major operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS and now Chrome OS,” wrote Opera-for-Android Product Director Stefan Stjernelund.
Web-watching service StatCounter [7]rates Opera’s market share at 2.2 per cent across all platforms, with Chrome owning 65 per cent of the market, Apple’s Safari in second place at 18 per cent, Microsoft’s Edge on 3.39 per cent and Firefox at 3.29 per cent.
But the soprano has not yet sung. Stjernelunds’ post noted that 30 million units running Google’s lightweight laptop platform sold in 2020 and 40 million are expected to ship in 2021, creating an opportunity for Opera to find new users and admirers. ®
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[1] https://blogs.opera.com/mobile/2021/07/opera-for-chromebooks/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YOLYQDdesInyNnp3rlIbJgAAANY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YOLYQDdesInyNnp3rlIbJgAAANY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/09/vivaldi_4/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/01/firefox_89_redesign/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/28/mozilla_chrome_mozilla/
[7] https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share
[8] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
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 :)
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...
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.
Re: Correct me if I'm wrong, but...
Reading exercise: https://itsfoss.com/install-ubuntu/
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.
Re: Correct me if I'm wrong, but...
Your not holding it right...
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
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.
integrated WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook Messenger.
Er, why? They're really not selling it to me...
Norwegian?
Try Chinese.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_(web_browser)
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.