Opera Browser and Opera GX are bloated web browsers, and the company behind them has tried to cover up its controversies.
  • DontTreadOnBigfoot@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    Holy shit.

    I thought this was just going to be a matter of poor security implementation or crappy feature sets.

    Turns out they converted the company into a loan shark operation owned by Chinese ad companies

    when the Opera browser continued losing users (due to competition from Google and Apple), the company shifted gears to building mobile apps that provided predatory short-term loans. The interest rates on those loans ranged from 365-876% per year, and loan terms from 7-29 days.

    • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      This behavior is just beyond batshit. Before anyone decides tl;dr, the article is well worth a read.

      I had a hunch that Opera was circling the drain when I started seeing them sponsor Youtubers. A general rule of thumb is that no company that has anything worth a shit devolves to sponsoring Youtube videos. I had no idea about the predatory loans thing, or the crypto scam chasing thing, or the ripping off ChatGPT thing…

      Back here in reality, there is no reason anyone should be using any other browser than Firefox. There is one organization left in this arena still devoted to protecting privacy, maintaining open standards, and a fair and open web for all. And it ain’t Google, it ain’t Microsoft, and it ain’t Opera.

      • fartsparkles@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        0·
        8 months ago

        And it’s always been Firefox since day one. Out of the ashes of Netscape Navigator rose Firefox and Mozilla have been one of the only bastions of the free and open web ever since. I honestly don’t understand why anyone would use another browser.

          • TheBananaKing@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            8 months ago

            Actually it’s an effective cloud-based password manager that doesn’t rely on local storage or weird plugins or backups.

            That’s what keeps me using chrome. I could lose everything in a house fire, pick up any device, log in and have access to all my stuff without any further action on my part, right out of the box.

            That’s the only feature I care about, and chrome is the only browser I’ve seen that provides it.

            Get me that in firefox, and I’ll switch today.

            • dasJot@feddit.deEnglish
              0·
              8 months ago

              That’s great until Google finds that one picture of your child at the pool and immediately deletes your CSAM-harboring filthy account.

  • Localhorst86@feddit.deEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    I fondly remember the old opera days, up until the latest presto version, 12.18. If you knew what you were doing, you were able to fully customize the entire browser, all of it’s toolbars and context menus, it was incredible.

    Once they switched over to the Blink engine, all of that was lost. It’s entire USP gone, just like that.

    I’ve tried Opera 2 or 3 years back, just to see what it is like, and it’s just another pointless chromium based browser, offering nothing to keep me using it, and the more i see posts and ads from this company, the more I feel like I made the right choice.

    I’ve also tried the “spiritual successor” to Opera 12, Vivaldi, but it too couldn’t win me back over from Firefox.

    • laurelraven@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      Opera died when they killed Presto and pretended they couldn’t make anything like that with blink.

      Then the old ones made Vivaldi and proved that was a damned lie.

      • hannes3120@feddit.deEnglish
        0·
        8 months ago

        I’m kind of sad they didn’t choose gecko for Vivaldi.

        Currently trying out Floorp after maining Vivaldi for years in preparation for the worst

  • lone_faerie@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    I knew not to use Opera GX as soon as they started sponsoring youtubers. I swear, youtube sponsorships are like anti-ads. 9 times out of 10 they’re doing something sketchy.

    • AnAngryAlpaca@feddit.deEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      Lol, now that I think of it I had never seen a YouTube ad or sponsor where I would say “this is an ethical and fairly priced product without a catch that I would like to buy”…