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The Opera Evolution

September 2, 2010 · by Espen André Øverdahl

This is a really cool fan video by Encrio showing how Opera has evolved as a browser. We've been making Web browser for more than 15 years and you can only wonder how modern browsers would look like if Opera had never existed. Do you think the features would be the same? :smile:

We love videos featuring Opera, so if you have any favorites out there please let us know as a comment. :yes:

So sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy:

Video on YouTube

Video on YouTube

Readers' comments 50

Left under the original article, as archived; 1 page of comments could not be recovered.

  • JaredThursday, September 2, 2010 9:52:26 AM

    :up:

    Wish I knew Opera BEFORE 9.6
    (Knew it earlier :sad: )

  • Andy KThursday, September 2, 2010 9:55:55 AM

    COOL

  • Artur „Jurgi” JurgawkaThursday, September 2, 2010 9:57:43 AM

    Nice work.

  • Mağruf ÇolakoğluThursday, September 2, 2010 10:03:08 AM

    :yikes: http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/Smilies/ThumbsUp.gif -

  • lkeolThursday, September 2, 2010 10:04:31 AM

    I really like tabs design in 9.50 how close and without spaces they are. I even hold some uncompatibile skin on 10.00 but then times go on....

  • Matthew DavenportThursday, September 2, 2010 10:26:57 AM

    i wish it was in english instead of italian. But it shows just how superior Opera is to IE and (in the early years) Netscape Navigator...which carries on today in Opera 10.6 Turbo..... :bigsmile:

  • kys38Thursday, September 2, 2010 10:27:40 AM

    i used adware version:) 6.50>>>>>10.61

  • Ruud SteltenpoolThursday, September 2, 2010 10:28:30 AM

    While 1st video was playing at 1:49 i started playing the 2nd, the sound actually combines quite nicely most of the time :-)

    Opera rules.

  • Kei Grieg ToyomasuThursday, September 2, 2010 10:36:18 AM

    Nice job with the video :smile:

  • TrickstarThursday, September 2, 2010 10:39:07 AM

    Opera 3.21? Been there, done that. Most videos and screenshots actually miss the really capabilities of the browser even in the old versions. In a direct comparison to other browser, it absolutely stood out for more than 10 years.

  • Joseph D. LienThursday, September 2, 2010 10:41:02 AM

    It's so surprising when you take a look back through these old versions how much they have changed. And I've used all of these versions! There were some really substantial user interface changes in Opera; when you compare with IE, Internet Explorer barely changed at all.

    It's clear that Opera has really had to try hard to push the envelope and think of new features to differentiate itself from other browsers out there, especially back when it was not a free product. IE, on the other hand was content to stay pretty stagnant and only slowly implement very minor, incremental changes.

    If Opera hadn't stuck it out, it's very likely that we'd still be stuck at the level of browsers we had back in about 2001 or 2002.

  • NecromanThursday, September 2, 2010 10:57:09 AM

    It looks like Opera UI hasn't changed a lot since 7.50 :bigsmile: Only features like speed dial, widgets, torrents, Opera link, Unite server, title-less design and fastest JavaScript engine around... wait what? :bigeyes:

  • NecromanThursday, September 2, 2010 11:00:35 AM

    Also it took only 2 years to Chrome to get most of these features :wink:
    I guess the next milestone for Opera is the hardware acceleration :yes:

  • MBAHDONK™Thursday, September 2, 2010 11:33:11 AM

    testing

  • seriousThursday, September 2, 2010 12:00:16 PM

    ah, I remember 7.02 ... beautiful skin. although after thinking about it nowadays the default-enabled main bar was a huge waste of space.

  • Boozie 'Thursday, September 2, 2010 12:02:20 PM

    I used from 7.50 :bigsmile:

  • Charles SchlossThursday, September 2, 2010 12:39:11 PM

    :cool:

  • JaredThursday, September 2, 2010 1:00:25 PM

    Chrome?

    5th version still never heard a change.

  • TamilThursday, September 2, 2010 1:54:21 PM

    http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/Smilies/Cool.gif -

  • Joachim BlaabjergThursday, September 2, 2010 2:32:43 PM

    Huh, I thought Opera was a result of intelligent design!? :idea:

  • ZephirineThursday, September 2, 2010 3:33:31 PM

    http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/Smilies/Applause.gif - http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/Smilies/ThumbsUp.gif -

  • FataLThursday, September 2, 2010 4:20:44 PM

    Where is Opera 2? :p:
    I have version 2.12 running on XP. Don't have a serial number for it though :sad:

    Originally posted by Trickstar:

    Opera 3.21? Been there, done that. Most videos and screenshots actually miss the really capabilities of the browser even in the old versions. In a direct comparison to other browser, it absolutely stood out for more than 10 years.

    Agree.

  • EnricoThursday, September 2, 2010 4:35:57 PM

    Originally posted by eil:

    good video. liked first track, and searched for it to download. i mean- author, thanks for using that track!)



    Yes, the first track is my favorite :bigsmile: The track name is L.O.R.D. by echoed. You can download it for free, it's released under Creative Common License :smile:

    Thank you mr. Øverdahl to show my video in the Choose Opera blog, i'm very happy that you like it :smile:
    Maybe i'll try to create a new shorter version, it's very long, but i showed many versions :smile:

    P.S. you did a little mistake: my name is Enrico, not Encrio :whistle: :p:

  • Erick Omar DelgadoThursday, September 2, 2010 5:09:05 PM

    Nice.
    :up: :up:

  • Superrrrrdurt!Thursday, September 2, 2010 5:25:13 PM

    Never used Opera back when it had the banner add. Since what version Opera became "add" free?

  • Daniel BustosThursday, September 2, 2010 5:26:56 PM

    Opera user since version 4.xx, didn't buy a license until version 5 though. Time sure passes quickly...

  • TamilThursday, September 2, 2010 5:34:09 PM

    Originally posted by Superdurt:

    Since what version Opera became "add" free?

    Opera 8.50

  • d4rkn1ghtThursday, September 2, 2010 6:55:50 PM

    :up:

  • Superrrrrdurt!Thursday, September 2, 2010 7:14:53 PM

    Thnx for the comments!

    Then I think I started using Opera since 8.50 (or at least around that time). :wink:
    Part of the new-school!

  • DerGattThursday, September 2, 2010 7:28:32 PM

    Buy Opera today and make this banner go away :smile: good times

  • AngelikiThursday, September 2, 2010 7:28:40 PM

    "we have come a long way baby!!!" :up: :yes: :cool:

  • markumanThursday, September 2, 2010 8:54:01 PM

    i can't believe it! opera is the first browser whitch supports webm/html5 video in his stable 10.6 browser, and all i got here are hints that i need a plugin on Arch Linux x86_64 :-(

  • bmhvThursday, September 2, 2010 10:39:31 PM

    Started using Opera since verion 9. I thought that Opera was an absolutely free browser, until I saw this. But it makes sense, Opera needs funds for research too.

  • EricJHFriday, September 3, 2010 2:03:38 AM

    Thanks for the ride down memory lane..... :wizard:

    Started with Opera with v 7.1x myself.

    Originally posted by dergatt:

    Buy Opera today and make this banner go away :smile: good times

    For real...:up:

    Boy, with hindsight; the 9.5 skin was ugly ..... hard to imagine I actually liked it....:sad: :bigsmile: With hindsight again; those old skins, v7 abd v8, were actually pretty well done.

    Too bad the video does not show the tabs on the title bar for the later versions. What OS was being used in this video?

    Other then my last critical: cool videos...

    :coffee:

  • Marcelo MartinsFriday, September 3, 2010 2:11:42 AM

    Fantástico. Vemos ai a evolução da navegação na internet nestes vídeos, graças ao opera.

    "Fantastic. I see the evolution of web browsing on these videos, thanks to operate."

  • Carlos Manuel Juaristi ManriqueFriday, September 3, 2010 6:07:39 AM

    hahahaha great and great music. wow ho fast does the computing and web change. i still remember the terrible noise of the 56k modems dialing up hahaha and downloading files from napster at 1 kb/s and my mom angry because she couldn't use the phone wile i was online

  • EnricoFriday, September 3, 2010 6:23:50 AM

    Originally posted by EricJH:

    What OS was being used in this video?


    I used Windows 2000 Professional

  • Kai OckendorfFriday, September 3, 2010 7:00:48 AM

    thx for the great journey through the Opera versions :bigsmile:

  • DavidFriday, September 3, 2010 7:59:45 AM

    Ah... good memories. *sigh*
    My first Opera was 3.21 provided on a CD-ROM by a german computer magazine. :up:
    Since then Opera was always my default browser. Thanks a lot for the videos AND the browsers since then. :love:

  • AndyFriday, September 3, 2010 8:16:37 AM

    Using Opera scince 3.62.

    Even though it continues to have a rather low market share, it has massively influenced World Wide Web technologies and browsing experience in the last decade, both on desktop and especially on mobile devices.

    What the iPhone 2G did to mobile devices and smarphones, Opera browser did for WWW browsers.

    Similar to iPhone both in good and bad: competition is getting close - and surpassing. Sorry guys, but Chrome IS faster today, and especially on Linux it's not only much faster, it is also more stable.

    Anyway, on Windows I'll keep it as my primary browser and I keep my fingers crossed for you to keep up the tech and innovation pace and probably leadership, and sustain the thriving competition, not to end up like 3dfx or Matrox (once leading GPU vendors).

    Check out the forums: how about Tab Grouping? ("Tab Candy" Firefox prototype)

  • Chris HanssenFriday, September 3, 2010 10:49:28 PM

    WOW I am impressed. Alot of innovations came on here at Opera. I've been a user since 2008 or 2009. I have Opera as my main browser. Nice job to the Opera staff for making a better browser then Internet Explorer.

  • LarrySaturday, September 4, 2010 2:36:42 AM

    If anyone cares to reminisce or just wants to play…


    http://www.oldversion.com/Opera.html

  • Izuchukwu onwukaSaturday, September 4, 2010 8:11:36 AM

    I love opera

  • eyal merhaviSunday, September 5, 2010 12:29:49 AM

    nice one!!!! (:

  • Douglas Charles CunhaSunday, September 5, 2010 4:41:39 PM

    Pow, Windows 98? The evolution of Windows should follow the Opera. Windows 1998, XP, Vista and Seven where Opera is very beautiful.

  • slackwrdaveSunday, September 5, 2010 11:20:41 PM

    The ad version of Opera should demonstrate the red/white flashing ad that made people run away like it was on fire. I bought a license twice then got tired of paying.

    Other than that it's been lovely since the very first day. Used to you could tote Opera around on a single floppy and install it everywhere you went.

    Cool video about our favorite "rebel" browser. :up: :heart:

  • IKokeMonday, September 6, 2010 3:15:56 AM

    :up:

  • Michael John LambinicioMonday, September 6, 2010 3:40:06 AM

    I would like to install my new opera mini 5.1,can you help for the setting.

  • Charles beredoMonday, September 6, 2010 12:52:21 PM

    Opera mini 4.2.. Cool.

  • ■Monday, September 6, 2010 3:12:31 PM

    love opera, using it beginning with v 6.0 (linux) to currently 10.70 Build
    9036 win32.

    Cheers :smile:

About this article

Published inChoose Opera
DateSeptember 2, 2010
AuthorEspen André Øverdahl
Tagsyoutube, opera
OriginalInternet Archive

The Red O » Developers » Choose Opera » The Opera Evolution

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