The folks at Opera Software would like you to believe that Opera Unite, a new, experimental feature set for its Opera browser product, has "reinvented the Web." The company's breathy, gushing press release is truly remarkable spin, even by the standards of dot-com PR. But the way I see it, Opera Unite is hardly game-changing; rather, it's a Hail Mary bid for Opera to stay in the game -- in more ways than one.
That Opera is still around is impressive, in and of itself. It takes guts to offer a proprietary, closed source browser in this market, where the competition consists of one of the most successful open source projects ever, two of the most powerful companies in the computer industry (Microsoft and Google), and Apple. Still, Opera's strong support for open Web standards has won favor with many developers, and its early focus on browsers for mobile handsets was prescient, to say the least.
[ How safe is your broswer? Find out how Chrome, Firefox, IE, Opera, and Safari stack up in InfoWorld Test Center's guide to browser security | Get the best of InfoWorld's columnists and bloggers in our Today's Blogs newsletter. ]
The value of this new initiative, however, is harder to see -- which might explain the hype overload. The short description just sounds weird: Opera Unite is a Web server on the Web browser. Ignoring for the moment that this isn't really groundbreaking -- even some vending machines have Web servers on them these days -- why on Earth would anyone want that?
The browser gets social
Digging deeper, it becomes clear that the real appeal of Opera Unite lies not in the embedded Web server itself, but in the additional features Opera has built on top of it. Although it can host your Web sites, Opera Unite also offers peer-to-peer file sharing, chat, a media player, photo sharing, and a "fridge" on which users can leave each other notes, among other features. It's not so much about Web publishing as it is about collaboration.
Get the independent advice and expertise you need to support a virtual workforce.
The increase in Linux popularity has increased the frequency and sophistication of malware attacks. Read this 2 page white paper now to learn how you can protect your Linux environment with real-time protection that is certified by all major Linux vendors.
Download now »
Ensuring acceptable application delivery will become even more difficult over the next few years. As a result, IT organizations need to ensure that the approach that they take to resolving the current application delivery challenges can scale to support the emerging challenges. This handbook elaborates on the key tasks associated with planning, optimization, management and control and provides decision criteria to help IT organizations choose appropriate solutions.
Download now »
A common misconception is that mid-range storage requirements are dramatically different than that of a larger enterprise. Mid-range storage users may require less capacity, but they have similar functionality and management requirements. This ESG paper examines mid-range storage needs and reviews a new solution that adjusts size while retaining value, performance and functionality.
Download now »"On the other hand, the Opera browser's aforementioned adherence to standards means it runs the risk of essentially becoming a commodity product. When all browsers render pages the same, who cares which one you use?"
Everyone cares, because they care about the features of the browser itself. All cars drive on the same roads, so who cares which kind of car they drive? Everyone does.
For example, does your browser have speed dial? Thumbnails on tabs? Built in mail client? Mouse gestures? Sessions? Notes? Styles? Synchronization? A trash can for retrieving closed pages? Does it load those same pages faster than other browsers? Does it have those features before other browsers do? Does it refrain from popping up stupid message boxes 3 times per page? Does it have all those features built in so that I can use them on any other computer, like at a school computer lab? If so, then people like me will want to use that browser, regardless of whether or not other browsers load pages the same way. Currently, that browser is Opera.
Sign up to receive InfoWorld Resource Alerts
1054 Recommendations
