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12.5 million people download Opera 10.10 in first week

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On December 7, 2009, 5:30 PM

Opera announced today that its November 23 launch of Opera version 10.10 has shattered previous download records. Within one week, 12.5 million people downloaded the Web browser's latest build. This marks a 25% increase from the download rate of Opera 10, which the company released only two months earlier.

Opera 10.10 promised to "reinvent the Web" with a new featured dubbed "Unite". Unite turns any computer into both a client and a server, supporting things like file transfers, media streaming and photo sharing without using third party products. The most recent version also brought "Opera Turbo", a server-side optimization and compression technology that improves browsing speeds by compressing network traffic.

"With such remarkable download numbers, I am confident that we truly appealed to the needs of the Web-using public," said Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner. The company also said its browser currently has about 45 million active desktop users -- a drop in the bucket -- and millions more on other devices. If you're among that handful of people, let's hear your impression of Opera 10.10 and why you prefer it to other, more popular solutions.

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User Comments: 34

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  1. I'll have to stick to IE for the goods. It is the ONLY browser that can display subfolders on our OWA at work, got the feeling that the administrator setup the exchange server in such a way that OWA only works fine when using IE, snif! snif!

  2. I'm a tab ***** and Opera has better tab management than FF. I easily have 60+ tabs open at all times and Opera chugs along just fine. FF used to choke after being open a day or so like that.

    Plus I have different sessions and Opera sync to have my bookmarks synced with my laptop make it great.

  3. Love it. Opera is the best browser I have ever used. It's blisteringly fast and has all the features I want

  4. @klepto12

    You sir, make me laugh thinking that Firefox is a better browser than Opera. Clearly another FF fanboy that hasn't yet given it a solid chance.

    Out of the box, Opera smashes firefox with it's functionality. IE, FF, and Chrome have always been playing catch up. And since they can't catch up, they rely on their users to do their work for them by creating extensions. Even with them relying on their users, they are still in the back seat.

    So, to enjoy Opera, download, install.

    To enjoy Firefox and make it usable, first download Firefox, install, go find all of your favorite extensions, download, install, and when you are done, you still won't have the same functionality that I have in Opera. And more than likely your extension with be a half-assed implementation of what is standard and polished in Opera.

    Is Opera the perfect browser? No. I will not deny the issues that Guest 3:04am posted.

    Furthermore I will go on and confirm what Guest at 7:33pm posted. Opera does have problems with some sites. Is it Opera's fault? Not likely. Opera drew a line in the sand and refused to cross it or look back. Its vision is very forward, developing for what the web will be tomorrow, rather than what it was 10 years ago.

    I blame the companies who run those sites that only IE or Firefox works on. Google is one of them that doesn't adhere to web standards. When will you get on board Google?

  5. Opera is good, but it has few users. As a result of low usage, Opera doesn't have the clout that it takes to effect change on a variety of Internet and communication sites.

    Someday, maybe, if it continues to be good enough and among the most competitive, it will gain that clout. For my purposes, it is too often useless.

  6. @raybay

    I'm not sure I follow your logic. Its good, but has few users, so it doesn't have the clout? 12.5 million downloads in the first week? I would say that what Opera lacks most is any effort on the part of their marketing department. Don't forget, there was a time when IE had nearly 90% market share.

    I'd be curious to know what makes Opera useless for you. If it is a site that doesn't work in Opera, I would find it hard to blame Opera if the site wasn't using web standards. Blame the owners of the website. And more than likely, they won't display properly in FF either. You would probably HAVE to use IE.

    I do have those websites, specifically internal corporate websites that only support IE. So I have two browsers that I use. Opera I use as default, and IE for everything else. Why IE? Because I don't have to worry about that site not working properly in another browser. I know everything works in IE.

    Without posting examples, you are really just making empty accusations.

  7. Quote : from Guest 1 week ago 05:04 AM, (post #829164)

    " 3) Better support for existing features, Opera has a nasty habit of adding features and

    then leaving them to languish."

    Yes - lack of support for existing features, including basic functions such as printing, is a problem. E.g, ability to customize print headers and footers is a longstanding user request.

    I prefer Opera but end up using FF, for consistency in output format as well as customized headers, when I anticipate possibly wanting print a page (such as a receipt or other hard-

    copy documention.).

  8. My experience with Opera has been that it locks up the graphics in my computer during large downloads, (IE; a Linux distro). The download is successful yes, but I lose control of the desktop.

    Also Opera doesn't have the privacy mode that is in FF. I suppose that's no big thing, but still, after exiting Firefox running in privacy mode, you really don't even need to run CCleaner. Opera leaves quite a bit more "residue".

  9. For privacy. I believe if you wanted things cleared everytime after use, you could go to Opera Preferences -> Advanced then in cookies and history choose the delete/empty on exit thing for both of them. That should take care of things, but if you wanted to do it manually (in like 2 steps) you can go to tools advanced -> delete private data, and then choose what you want deleted.

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