Opera Dropping Presto In Favor Of Webkit?

not sure if this was mentioned yet but saw this today:

Code:

http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2013/02/15/

Opera’s biggest purchase yet?

Skyfire Labs, a company that raised $23 million just over a year ago, has been acquired by Opera Software
in a deal said to be worth up to $155 million in both cash and stock. This includes an upfront payment of $50 million and performance based payments over the next 3 years.

While it’s been a while since we heard about Skyfire’s web browser, it looks like this wasn’t the only driving force behind the acquisition.

As stated in the press release, Skyfire Labs package also includes “Rocket Optimizer”, a software that reduces the size of the video and other multimedia, hence giving mobile operators an extra 60% boost to their network capacity.

Code:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CWx-uVduybE

Opera’s CEO, Lars Boilesen said, “Opera and Skyfire are a natural fit. Both companies have evolved far beyond their browser roots. Skyfire adds capabilities to our portfolio around video, app optimization, smartphones and tablets, and strength in North America. With video expected to consume over two-thirds of global mobile bandwidth by 2015, and as time spent on Android and iOS apps explodes, we are excited to extend Opera’s solutions for operators.”

http://www.favbrowser.com/opera-buys-skyfire-labs-for-up-to-155-million/

 

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Best post on this thread!

 

Can anybody explain to me why Presto can't become open source?

 

Well, I hope Opera is able to launch the WebKit version with hardware acceleration, because as far as software based rendering goes, Vega was one of the fastest.

 

Just got x64 12.14 Build 1738, so they are still patching anyway. It would be nice if they kept the Presto x64 build going even after the x86 defects to Chromium. I doubt it though.

 

I don't know why they are switching to Chromium per se. Using WebKit on it's own would have solved the problems they are talking about anyway without having to resort to Google's open source project. Using WebKit would also have given them some additional freedoms (i.e. not being bogged down by where Chromium is going). So why use Chromium instead of WebKit?

 

Chromium uses WebKit...

Using Chromium just means that they will drop both Presto (Opera's current layout engine) and Carakan (Opera's current javascript engine) for WebKit (Chrome's current layout engine) and V8 (Chrome's current javascript engine).

Which is good in some ways, as it means compatibility with Chrome's extensions for example.

 

Why drop Presto at all I say.

 

After reading several articles, comments and points of view on the matter, it really looks like they don't have the financial resources required for the maintenance of Presto anymore.

 

That really is not surprising....

 

I'm not shocked either. If I remember right, most of their cash flow on the desktop comes from search engine partners. On mobile they get it from license/maintenance/engineering fees and share of sales. I would make a bet and feel safe saying most of their overall revenue is coming from mobile, and that must just not be enough. If you take that into consideration, moving to WebKit seems more like an effort to stay in business and less of a move to "fix the web for Opera users". I can't fault them for that, no matter how much I'd prefer they did something else besides join the WebKit army.

 

Well, what about "SquirrelFish Extreme", and why drop Carakan anyway?

 

I tend to agree.

 

I don't get this kind of reasoning. What on earth would the Opera browser be without both its unique engine and user interface?

It can survive an engine change (which is a shame, since it used to be one of the fastest around), but people who want the user interface completely changed ought to just find another browser that meets their needs.

Some people enjoy Opera's approach to designing a browser. Changing everything about it will just alienate the people who like it.

 

I agree with this as well. I can't see Chromium/Opera being much more than a Chrome clone.

 

I have some suppositions, maybe they are all wrong. Within time, we will certainly know more.

Regarding Carakan vs others:

- It may be impossible to make Carakan work with WebKit without incurring in large financial costs.

- It may be impossible to continue maintaining Carakan without incurring in large financial costs.

Regarding V8 vs "SquirrelFish Extreme":

- It may be better to support V8 because the Chromium project may give more power and influence to Opera ASA. Google seems more open than Apple (regarding contributions from other parties).

- Using Chromium (and with that, V8 ) may give the bonus of easier support to Chrome's extensions. Chrome already has a greatly populated gallery of extensions with a very active community of developers. This isn't a negligible aspect.

- V8 performs better than "SquirrelFish Extreme" in most benchmarks (?).

 

I agree that maintaining Carakan would probably incur huge costs for Opera ASA, but IMO WebKit's SquirrelFish vs. V8 is not properly benchmarked (and in any case Apple won't sit still either with it's JS engine), and in theory extension support should not be a problem with WebKit being open as well.

But like you said, it could be that Google is more open about these things than Apple. Time will tell.

 

What reasoning? What's wrong with a better GUI, and one that isn't a Firefox GUI rip off?

I actually remember a few years back Opera browser wasn't that similar to Firefox's one. And, I actually liked the way Opera GUI used to look like. Why the bloody hell be a Firefox lookalike? Why not be Opera only?

As a former Opera user I'd very much like to see a GUI that doesn't resemble the Firefox GUI, at all. For that, I'd just use Firefox, thank you very much, which also happens to have better extensions.

So, maybe one way of redesigning the GUI, is to bring it back to what it used to be? It worked fine for me back then. Maybe you like the way it looks now, but that's your opinion, the same way disliking the Firefox look is my opinion.

Otherwise, I also don't see the reasoning to want a browser that looks like another browser.

 

Sincerely, I much prefer the current Opera's GUI than its previous versions. If it was really inspired in Firefox, I hope they don't listen to your comment at all. And, instead, continue implementing good ideas of other projects - just like others already took inspiration from great ideas of Opera ASA. This doesn't mean Opera shouldn't continue innovating IMO. It just means that taking inspiration from others shouldn't' be considered bad per se IMO.

 

FYI, Firefox GUI is a rip-off of Opera's not vice versa. I was using Opera at the time they introduced it.

 

It really was.

 

IMO, they're all a ripoff of Chrome....

 

Well, there's that as well.

 

http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/18/opera-confirms-downsizing/

;/

 

After giving it more thought. I think as long as the GUI remains uniquely Opera it'll be hard to tell the difference between Presto & Chromium. I base this on using Chrome (hated it), Chromium (barely tolerable) & Comodo Dragon which is quite usable. So I'm expecting the new Opera to be better than Comodo Dragon. So that'll still make Opera my favorite & most used browser. I hope Opera keeps Mouse Gestures the same & keeps extensions: ABP, Focus on Textbox, Ghostery, WOT, Weather Forecast, and cleanPages.