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Opera browser used to have P2P file transfers as a short lived feature in ~2010, called Unite. I remember it also had skeuomorphic GUI of a 'fridge' where users

Opera browser used to have P2P file transfers as a short lived feature in ~2010, called Unite. I remember it also had skeuomorphic GUI of a 'fridge' where users could put post-it style notes that could be seen by others. One of many everything-and-the-kitchen-sink features Opera Presto had during its heyday. Others included a separate Bittorrent client, desktop widgets that could be moved outside of the browser window, full IRC client, email client and peerless hotkey actions customization. By some miracle the browser still managed to be a rather lean binary.

culopatin 2y ago
Can we have that do-it-all Opera back? RSS, email, torrents. Feels like we had it all internet wise in 2007-2010 and then decided to throw it all away.
- mrweasel 2y ago
  I think Vivaldi have both RSS and email, it's sort of the spiritual successor to the original Opera.... I miss the old Opera.
  - rplnt 2y ago
    Vivaldi is roughly 1000 times slower. You need a pretty good computer to run that UI. It also lacks extremely basic features Opera had; like working LRU tab switching. I liked the idea, but it's impossible to recommend.
    - AlienRobot 2y ago
      Is that true? I remember having to change a setting to switch the behavior of tab switching because it was LRU by default and I prefer it in visible order.
      - rplnt 2y ago
        It used to work and broke maybe 2 years ago. This tells me that no one is actually using the browser and that no one is really working on it either. It receives chromium updates and then some money-making features here and there.
    - dicknuckle 2y ago
      have you tried Otter Browser?
      - rplnt 2y ago
        It's been a while, 8-10 years ago maybe? But quick look now tells me it's still one person effort. That's both awesome and unfortunate. I wish it got more traction back then to attract more active user/dev base.
      - rplnt 2y ago
        What a blast from the past. 0 comments, 0 points. Opera wasn't very popular in US. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937436 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937436
- rplnt 2y ago
  We did not decide it. Google decided to kill it. In countries where Opera had major share Google ran aggressive and deceptive (something something faster) campaign with billboards, radio and tv ads. Chrome ads were also everywhere on their homepages (google.com, youtube.com). But more nefariously, Google kept blocking features and apps based on the UA agent alone. Add lots of tech demos with their custom extensions.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - masklinn 2y ago
    They did that in pretty much every (developed) country not just those where opera has major share.
    - rplnt 2y ago
      Good point, I missed a word or two there to make it clear I didn't mean it was only there.
  - miki123211 2y ago
    Don't forget bundling Chrome with random apps (I remember cCleaner), making it install silently and automatically set itself as default. I got caught by this as a kid a few times, I was technical enough to know what was going on, and reliant on a screen reader (which Chrome didn't support back then), so it was definitely a memorable annoyance for me, but I guess quite a few people didn't care.
- pbhjpbhj 2y ago
  Do you mean Opera Unite, that had p2p file sharing and a 'wall' (I think it was termed the fridge door, all your verified users could leave you notes/images on it IIRC). I blogged about it back in the day (15 years ago), https://alicious.com/opera-about-to-change-the-world/ https://alicious.com/opera-about-to-change-the-world/.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
0x0f_4 2y ago
> One of many everything-and-the-kitchen-sink features Opera Presto had during its heyday. oh the Presto engine.. shame its not the same opera we used anymore. still has the best ux on phone, unfortunately no other browser come close.
freehorse 2y ago
I remember this fondly. How much more beautiful the web could have been if google had not killed everything else.
kristopolous 2y ago
Opera has an operator mode now btw. I think it slipped through the hn radar. Maybe 2 weeks ago was the announcement? Hit producthunt's main page
nashashmi 2y ago
I really wished opera had a greater market share than it did. It did relatively well for a few years with share between 1-4%. But was lagging behind defunct browsers like IE6. And back then the browser space was only chrome, Firefox, and IE. Notable mention to safari and KDE fwiw. The everything browser made it a difficult experience to understand. Kind of a feature overload in the face of minimalism being practiced by chrome and ie7.
theendisney 2y ago
Someone made a torrent website software for it which spawned something like 50 good torrent websites. Combined with the build in torrent client and irc client it made a wonderfull experience.
Lanolderen 2y ago
I still need mouse gestures in all browsers and extensions are still in comparison hot garbage at it.
apitman 2y ago
Ah yes, back when browsers were actually user agents.
zelphirkalt 2y ago
I remember M2, their mail client, which had good "AI" auto labelling of e-mails. For today's standards probably not outstanding, but back then it worked nicely, and I wish I had something like it for Thunderbird, but so far any plugin to auto label anything in Thunderbird has failed me. Thunderbird needs tagging to improve and be better accessible.

culopatin 2y ago

Can we have that do-it-all Opera back? RSS, email, torrents. Feels like we had it all internet wise in 2007-2010 and then decided to throw it all away.

mrweasel 2y ago
I think Vivaldi have both RSS and email, it's sort of the spiritual successor to the original Opera.... I miss the old Opera.
- rplnt 2y ago
  Vivaldi is roughly 1000 times slower. You need a pretty good computer to run that UI. It also lacks extremely basic features Opera had; like working LRU tab switching. I liked the idea, but it's impossible to recommend.
  - AlienRobot 2y ago
    Is that true? I remember having to change a setting to switch the behavior of tab switching because it was LRU by default and I prefer it in visible order.
    - rplnt 2y ago
      It used to work and broke maybe 2 years ago. This tells me that no one is actually using the browser and that no one is really working on it either. It receives chromium updates and then some money-making features here and there.
  - dicknuckle 2y ago
    have you tried Otter Browser?
    - rplnt 2y ago
      It's been a while, 8-10 years ago maybe? But quick look now tells me it's still one person effort. That's both awesome and unfortunate. I wish it got more traction back then to attract more active user/dev base.
    - rplnt 2y ago
      What a blast from the past. 0 comments, 0 points. Opera wasn't very popular in US. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937436 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937436
rplnt 2y ago
We did not decide it. Google decided to kill it. In countries where Opera had major share Google ran aggressive and deceptive (something something faster) campaign with billboards, radio and tv ads. Chrome ads were also everywhere on their homepages (google.com, youtube.com). But more nefariously, Google kept blocking features and apps based on the UA agent alone. Add lots of tech demos with their custom extensions.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- masklinn 2y ago
  They did that in pretty much every (developed) country not just those where opera has major share.
  - rplnt 2y ago
    Good point, I missed a word or two there to make it clear I didn't mean it was only there.
- miki123211 2y ago
  Don't forget bundling Chrome with random apps (I remember cCleaner), making it install silently and automatically set itself as default. I got caught by this as a kid a few times, I was technical enough to know what was going on, and reliant on a screen reader (which Chrome didn't support back then), so it was definitely a memorable annoyance for me, but I guess quite a few people didn't care.
pbhjpbhj 2y ago
Do you mean Opera Unite, that had p2p file sharing and a 'wall' (I think it was termed the fridge door, all your verified users could leave you notes/images on it IIRC). I blogged about it back in the day (15 years ago), https://alicious.com/opera-about-to-change-the-world/ https://alicious.com/opera-about-to-change-the-world/.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

0x0f_4 2y ago

> One of many everything-and-the-kitchen-sink features Opera Presto had during its heyday. oh the Presto engine.. shame its not the same opera we used anymore. still has the best ux on phone, unfortunately no other browser come close.

freehorse 2y ago

I remember this fondly. How much more beautiful the web could have been if google had not killed everything else.

kristopolous 2y ago

Opera has an operator mode now btw. I think it slipped through the hn radar. Maybe 2 weeks ago was the announcement? Hit producthunt's main page

nashashmi 2y ago

I really wished opera had a greater market share than it did. It did relatively well for a few years with share between 1-4%. But was lagging behind defunct browsers like IE6. And back then the browser space was only chrome, Firefox, and IE. Notable mention to safari and KDE fwiw. The everything browser made it a difficult experience to understand. Kind of a feature overload in the face of minimalism being practiced by chrome and ie7.

theendisney 2y ago

Someone made a torrent website software for it which spawned something like 50 good torrent websites. Combined with the build in torrent client and irc client it made a wonderfull experience.

Lanolderen 2y ago

I still need mouse gestures in all browsers and extensions are still in comparison hot garbage at it.

apitman 2y ago

Ah yes, back when browsers were actually user agents.

zelphirkalt 2y ago

I remember M2, their mail client, which had good "AI" auto labelling of e-mails. For today's standards probably not outstanding, but back then it worked nicely, and I wish I had something like it for Thunderbird, but so far any plugin to auto label anything in Thunderbird has failed me. Thunderbird needs tagging to improve and be better accessible.