Opera to give away browser

[Nomad559]

Opera to give away browser in bid to boost market share

A Norwegian maker of Internet browsing software hopes to imitate the success of the Firefox browser by using the same business tactic: giving the software away.

Opera Software ASA in Oslo already distributes a free version of its Opera browser. But this free software contains embedded advertisements that run along the top of the screen. An ad-free version of the program used to cost $39.

But Opera chief executive Jon von Tetzchner decided that the price tag was preventing Opera from reaching a larger audience.

I think a lot of people have been wanting to use Opera, but they've been held back by that," he said.

[Deja Q]

1. Gee, really?

But Opera chief executive Jon von Tetzchner decided that the price tag was preventing Opera from reaching a larger audience.

With Mozilla, Netscape, Firefox, and IE already givin' it away, anybody thinking they could sell a similar product has to be quite daring... or stupid.

Still, we shall soon see how much less secure Opera is compared to IE. :evilgrin:

[Nomad559]

2. how much less secure Opera is compared to IE

Actually, Opera Is more secure than I.E and Firefox.
Firefox has had more vulnerabilities than Opera and Internet Explorer.

Mozilla's Browsers Suffer Twice The Flaws Of Microsoft's IE

http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/dailyarchives.jhtml?articleId=170704698

:)

[miss_kitty]

4. Thanks for the link. Context always helps

"Firefox's vulnerabilities are almost double that of IE," said Oliver Friedrichs, the senior manager of Symantec's security response research team. " when you take a step back, two factors make that less severe."

First, he said, is that by nature IE vulnerabilities pose more problems to more people. "Because IE has a much larger base, a vulnerability within IE is far more widespread and generally has a much more severe impact than those in the Mozilla family," acknowledged Friedrichs.

Second, Mozilla's browsers are almost always patched quickly, while IE's problems often languish for months before they're fixed, exposing users to possible "zero-day" attacks for months. "You're much more likely to have vulnerabilities fixed quickly with open-source software like Firefox," said Friedrichs. "So the exposure time is much less."

[Nomad559]

5. Yes

It can be said that Firefox Is more secure than I.E. because It's user base Is small, but that does not change the fact that Firefox has many flaws written Into It's code.

:)

[miss_kitty]

7. but the fixes are much quicker as smaller

and not the rolling clunkfest that is SP2. The patch that was waited on for months and released late. That is a patch that needs patching and screws up many of the computers that try to apply it, and takes a good hour to download over a highspeed connection.

You know, it would be nice if M$ finished the product before selling it to the public. The whole thing with the patches having patches on top of patches is not very professional.

I had to reload every 2-3 months before I had Firefox. I have not reloaded since Feb 2004 using Firefox and leaving SP2 alone and not opening IE.

Also the fact that Firefox may have flaws written into its code, does not change the fact that IE has many MORE flaws written into its code, as does its gargantuan patch!

:D

[Nomad559]

8. I see

You use Firefox because you don't know how to Install a service pack, and you blame Microsoft for that.

No need to download SP2 every time you Install XP, you can Slipstream / Integrate SP2 into your Windows CD.

http://www.tweaksforgeeks.com/Integrate_Service_Packs_Into_Windows.html

:)

[miss_kitty]

10. Actually I know how to install a service pack-

and I know better than to do so in the case of SP2.

What I blame Microsoft for is the NEED for a huge monstrosity (272391 KB Estimated Download Time: 10 hr 49 min @ 56K) 2-3 years after the release of XP, and ages (years actually) after it was known there were huge flaws in the OS.

SP1 went on w/o a hitch. I had to apply it at least 4 times after each formatting.

It's really disingenuous of you to characterise my not liking IE and its repeated cause of my reloadings and repair disk incidents as not knowing "how to Install a service pack, and (blaming) Microsoft for that." I blame M$ for not using the great amount of talent they have working across the lake to get their OS out mostly right in the beginning. I blame them for denying FOR YEARS that there was security problem in IE and taking the attitude that there was no need to do a major overhaul of the system.

I have to say, if M$ IE wasn't such a holey POS and I hadn't had to figure loads of shit based on that by myself, I'd know about 1% about computers and software of what I know today!

:D

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

11. Well, since IE's code is not public, such a claim is like

trying to determine which of the detained people in Guantanamo Bay are guilty and which are not. You only have "the Man's" word for that, which is hardly a reliable source.

(That was an analogy. Have you looked up what this means?)

[no name no slogan]

3. I got a free unlock code for their birthday

They were giving away unlock codes a few weeks back for the browsers' birthday. I got one then. I used to own a license, but I let it lapse around version 6, unfortunately.

I have been using Opera off and on since 3.4x, and it is the best browser out there. The other browsers are just starting to catch up now to stuff Opera's been doing for years. Opera's still ahead of the pack, IMHO.

Hopefully they'll be able to continue making enhancements while cutting off their browser revenue stream. Otherwise they run the risk of becoming the next Netscape.

[LynneSin]

6. I've been using opera for years

the banner never bothered me since it was up in the one corner

I've been quite pleased with it!

[hunter]

9. I've been using Opera since it was first released...

The first version I bought ran on Windows 3.1 and it easily fit on a single floppy disk. It was a much better browser than either IE or Netscape.

I once cobbled together a two floppy disk DOS command-line version of Opera by melding it with a chopped down version of Windows 3.1 and it ran under Geoworks and DR-DOS on a 25MHz 386.

That was cool.