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The End of an Architecture

August 30, 2010 · by Daniel Aleksandersen

We have some sad news for the 0.1% of our users who are still on the PowerPC architecture.

Starting with the Next version of Opera, as of the next snapshot release (due sometime later today), we are discontinuing the PowerPC architecture on Mac and Linux. Opera 10.6x will be the last release with support for this architecture. This is unfortunate, but with third party vendor support dwindling away, we can no longer keep developing Opera for this architecture.

After ending support for PowerPC, we will be able to focus more on our high quality browser to make sure that it meets the need of the modern web browser user on the popular architectures.

Readers' comments

Comments left by My Opera members under the original post: the first 50, as archived.

  • Tamil30. August 2010, 15:57

    :rip:

  • Zimak30. August 2010, 16:00

    :cry:

  • Diamond0074430. August 2010, 16:03

    :confused: I don't know about that.:D

  • Daniele30. August 2010, 16:06

    I think you made the right choice

  • ouzoWTF30. August 2010, 16:06

    bye bye PowerPC, hello better quality on the other platforms.

  • Cjcr30. August 2010, 16:08

    R.I.P.

    Waiting for new snapshot....
    :D

  • Ognian Karamfiloff30. August 2010, 16:10

    Yes! :yes:
    Now waiting to see the end of Win98 and Win2k support.

  • marbross30. August 2010, 16:13

    Good move :) I agree with you.

  • Me30. August 2010, 16:14

    So which version do you recommend for someone still using PowerPC (old powerbook)? I'd like to use the latest, but it seems to have some nasty random crashes.

  • oke30. August 2010, 16:15

    Good choice. Developers must prioritize to be able to compete effectively in the market. There has not been significant other developments for Power PC for a long time and it is now a marginalized product.

  • dirk30. August 2010, 16:17

    :rip: ... keep on moving ...

  • Zimak30. August 2010, 16:17

    Originally posted by Ksevio:

    So which version do you recommend for someone still using PowerPC


    9.27 the best!

  • mopi197830. August 2010, 16:19

    At long last welcome to 2010 :wait:

  • rudl30. August 2010, 16:19

    I hope that it will increase quality on x64 + Linux
    Opera 10.5/6/7 is still very crashy and slow compared to windows

  • BottleField30. August 2010, 16:22

    Originally posted by nu4a:

    Now waiting to see the end of Win98 and Win2k support.



    Since version 10.5, Opera work quite bad in Win2k. I wrote some bug reports, but they wasn't confirmed (but they are!).

  • BottleField30. August 2010, 16:23

    Originally posted by Zimak:

    9.27 the best!


    Absolutelly agree!

  • Zimak30. August 2010, 16:29

    Originally posted by BottleField:

    Absolutelly agree!


    :)

  • Дмитрий30. August 2010, 16:30

    Originally posted by ouzoWTF:

    bye bye PowerPC, hello better quality on the other platforms.


    Agree with you
    Hope that quality will be better and better in future of Opera browser
    Now PowerPC is a history!

  • Hugo Del Castillo30. August 2010, 16:30

    sounds like we are getting HW Acceleration.....

  • Bucic30. August 2010, 16:35

    Originally posted by nu4a:

    Yes! :yes:
    Now waiting to see the end of Win98 and Win2k support.


    thumbs up!

  • Morphdreamer30. August 2010, 16:38

    After ending support for PowerPC, we will be able to focus more on our high quality browser to make sure that it meets the need of the modern web browser user on the popular architectures.


    Sounds like good news for 99.9% of Opera users :) .

  • Tiago Joao Silva30. August 2010, 16:38

    :no:

    Oh well, had to stop using my PowerBook some time...

    Meanwhile, how about fixing the 10.4 text lag bug? That has nothing to do with PowerPC. Are you going to discontinue 10.4 as well?

  • Dustin Wilson30. August 2010, 16:39

    Well, I knew this day was coming. Maybe now the devs won't be bogged down with actually getting Opera to function properly on Mac PPC and can get some of the big issues on Intel (such as printing) out of the way. \o/

    Originally posted by Ksevio:

    So which version do you recommend for someone still using PowerPC (old powerbook)? I'd like to use the latest, but it seems to have some nasty random crashes.


    I didn't have many problems with Opera 10 on PPC. Used it daily at work, but I'd stay completely away from 10.5+.

  • Daniel Aleksandersen30. August 2010, 16:45

    Originally posted by tigas:

    how about fixing the 10.4 text lag bug? That has nothing to do with PowerPC.

    Just you wait a few more hours. :) (PowerPC users will have to wait a bit more to get that fix, though.)

  • Cjcr30. August 2010, 16:50

    Originally posted by daniel:

    Just you wait a few more hours.


    Small or long changelog? :)

  • Jorge30. August 2010, 16:52

    I just hope that support the Power PC architecture is the only thing done and not tell us in the future Linux support also ends

  • Olli30. August 2010, 16:54

    Yeah, I knew that this would happen, and I think it's ok. All other bigbrowsers have discontinued the PowerPC-support, so Opera is the last one. Glad I'm running on Intel :D

  • Tomppeli30. August 2010, 16:54

    I'd like to see Linux ARM support when some smartbooks (and tablets) come around (there are already very few of them). But anyway great job you have done already.

  • endorphinity30. August 2010, 17:07

    4 years after Apple's move to Intel architecture seem to be quite enough to stop supporting old architecture, especially considering how their market share has grown during these years in comparison to PPC park.

  • arekm30. August 2010, 17:28

    The next target for dropping is ... Linux ;)

  • firstnight30. August 2010, 17:28

    "Good choice. Developers must prioritize to be able to compete effectively in the market. There has not been significant other developments for Power PC for a long time and it is now a marginalized product."

    Indeed, all businesses must prioritize to compete effectively. They should stop producing anything for marginalized people because to support a minority is inefficient and produces less profit. Oh, wait.. that's kinda like the way it already is. :D

    I am not a PowerPC user, but there will be always be someone hurt by lack of support. Not everyone can apportion resources to replace hardware and software within a reasonable 'timeframe'. Those who can do so or who do not use the deprecated system are often eager to see support for it dropped. The ethical question of eliminating support should always be difficult to answer, so as to cause the least damage possible. How much profit margin one is willing to lose to avoid hurting someone is the test of how great a company is.

  • lazy coders30. August 2010, 17:37

    I hope Opera can finally make me (Start Bar) work! Maybe prioritizing will allow some of Opera's standard features to work again.

    Originally posted by Zimak:

    Originally posted by Ksevio:

    So which version do you recommend for someone still using PowerPC

    9.27 the best!
    Thanks for the heads up!

  • Joshua Phelps30. August 2010, 17:39

    Linux will always be supported. ;-)

  • lazy coders30. August 2010, 17:39

    Originally posted by rudl:

    I hope that it will increase quality on x64 + Linux Opera 10.5/6/7 is still very crashy and slow compared to windows
    +1 Seems as if Opera 10.10 is the best Windows version yet. Never crashes, uses RAM efficiently. It just works.

  • lazy coders30. August 2010, 17:40

    Originally posted by hcastill:

    sounds like we are getting HW Acceleration.....
    +1 Well, everyone else is doing it... I see no reason Opera cannot.

  • Hokkut30. August 2010, 17:40

    Originally posted by arekm:

    The next target for dropping is ... Linux


    Bad joke :whistle:

    It's sad for PPC users. I hope in future Opera fix almost all bugs :)

  • Sardorbek30. August 2010, 17:51

    Hm ...I am sorry for PowerPC users!

  • michaelpuermayr30. August 2010, 17:56

    Originally posted by StartBar:

    Originally posted by hcastill:

    sounds like we are getting HW Acceleration.....
    +1 Well, everyone else is doing it... I see no reason Opera cannot.
    ah... Opera already has HA, it's just disabled by default...

  • ksec30. August 2010, 17:57

    Great, next would be GPU acceleration, even faster JS ( is that even possible ? ) and finally a UI design rethink.

  • Cjcr30. August 2010, 18:05

    Originally posted by michaelpuermayr:

    ah... Opera already has HA, it's just disabled by default...


    You are sure? ... one thing is ready to support HA, and other thing is disable by default.... :whistle:

  • Start Bar30. August 2010, 18:06

    Originally posted by michaelpuermayr:

    Originally posted by StartBar:

    Originally posted by hcastill:

    sounds like we are getting HW Acceleration.....
    +1 Well, everyone else is doing it... I see no reason Opera cannot.
    ah... Opera already has HA, it's just disabled by default...

    Originally posted by ksec:

    Great, next would be GPU acceleration, even faster JS ( is that even possible ? ) and finally a UI design rethink.
    Huh? Whats the difference in Hardware Acceleration and GPU Acceleration? GPU = hardware right? Will my old power book support both? edit: Does the Windows version of Opera support both Hardware Acceleration and GPU Acceleration?

  • michaelpuermayr30. August 2010, 18:25

    Originally posted by Start-Bar:

    Will my old power book support both?


    âaah... what about dropping support for Power books did you miss? :-D

  • Muhammad Ubaid raza30. August 2010, 18:25

    Opera 11 Coming up.... :whistle:

  • Start Bar30. August 2010, 18:34

    Originally posted by michaelpuermayr:

    Originally posted by Start-Bar:

    Will my old power book support both?

    âaah... what about dropping support for Power books did you miss? :-D
    Am I mistakingly interpreting your reply? Are you meaning to be stating that Opera's end to PowerPC architecture on Mac and Linux means that my Power book will not utilize Hardware Acceleration or GPU Acceleration? I dont get it...

    Originally posted by mubaidr:

    Opera 11 Coming up.... :whistle:
    Ya think Opera 11 will offer full Hardware Acceleration (GPU?)... think we'll get a snapshot with that feature today?

  • iPristy30. August 2010, 18:37

    Power PC :rip:

    Can't wait for nightly build, that's intense.:cool:

  • Hector Macias Ayala30. August 2010, 18:46

    Sad but true!! (Metallica)

  • Muhammad Ubaid raza30. August 2010, 18:48

    :nervous: There was a blog post (with new snapshot,mostly mac fixes) b9036 but setup was not working...:insane: They removed Blog post... :rolleyes:

  • Start Bar30. August 2010, 18:49

    Originally posted by italianjob44:

    Power PC :rip:

    Can't wait for nightly build, that's intense.:cool:



    Oh! Can you provide me the link to Opera's "nightly build" like:
    Firefox's ( http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/ )
    & Chromium's ( http://build.chromium.org/buildbot/snapshots/chromium-rel-xp )?

    Thanks for your all your help!

  • Muhammad Ubaid raza30. August 2010, 18:49

    Originally posted by Start-Bar:

    Ya think Opera 11 will offer full Hardware Acceleration (GPU?)...
    think we'll get a snapshot with that feature today?


    Nops... Today is just b9036 I think... For mac users Text input fixes!!! :up:

  • pedruh30. August 2010, 18:51

    You made the right choice ;)

    I think there isn't going to be a new snapshot today with hardware acceleration... maybe later! :D

About this article

Published inDesktop Team blog
DateAugust 30, 2010
AuthorDaniel Aleksandersen
Tagspowerpc, next
OriginalInternet Archive

The Red O » Developers » Desktop Team blog » The End of an Architecture

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