MultiTorg Opera 1.0 Beta 1

March 16, 2010 · by Haavard

I was just cleaning up some of my old files, and came across this picture:

The picture itself is actually "just" seven years old according to the time stamp, and the floppy probably appeared as we were cleaning out some old offices.

The sticker says:

1. Start Windows
2. Choose File/Run
3. Type: A:\setup

At the bottom right there you can see the old Telenor logo, and I think it says "research". Opera started out as a research project at Telenor Research.

I used to have a copy of the (MultiTorg) Opera 1.0 beta, but I'm not sure where it is now... It probably doesn't work very well on modern versions of Windows anyway.

So yeah, Opera really did fit on a floppy back then, and for a couple of more versions. However, supporting all these open Web standards does add some weight to modern browsers. It would probably be difficult to fit a fully working browser onto a floppy today.

Good thing floppies are history, then

Readers' comments 29

Left under the original article, as archived.

Charles SchlossTuesday, March 16, 2010 2:06:02 PM

You could fit Opera on a MicroSD card
dapxinTuesday, March 16, 2010 2:08:46 PM
I want one
zoqueteTuesday, March 16, 2010 2:13:30 PM
Does it work? Is it installable? :O
ZotlanTuesday, March 16, 2010 2:14:43 PM
Originally posted by zoquete:

Does it work? Is it installable? :O

It's a picture...
mistressEVILTuesday, March 16, 2010 2:15:43 PM
You should search for this kind of markable items and start a museum.
ouzowtfTuesday, March 16, 2010 2:24:25 PM
RustamTuesday, March 16, 2010 2:35:16 PM
Mod edit: English, please.
Pallab DeTuesday, March 16, 2010 2:59:45 PM
Bah, you had got my hopes up. For a moment I thought that Opera Soft has finally decided to publicly release MultiTorg.
ArntTuesday, March 16, 2010 3:24:28 PM
Originally posted by Indyan:

Bah, you had got my hopes up. For a moment I thought that Opera Soft has finally decided to publicly release MultiTorg.

Me too :-(
Anton DiazTuesday, March 16, 2010 4:46:54 PM
Originally posted by Arnt:

Bah, you had got my hopes up. For a moment I thought that Opera Soft has finally decided to publicly release MultiTorg.

+1
andolTuesday, March 16, 2010 5:27:38 PM
Here's a picture of boxed version of Opera 7.50 PL:
http://files.myopera.com/andol/files/op750pl.png - http://files.myopera.com/andol/files/op750cd.png -

Well, it was a fake prepared for April 1st, 2004
ArntTuesday, March 16, 2010 5:44:43 PM
http://files.myopera.com/Arnt/files/Opera212.png -
I want Opera 1 too complete my collection.
TeoTuesday, March 16, 2010 8:18:08 PM
My first touch with Opera was 3.6-something (or was it 3.5?). So couple of months ago, out of boredom and nostalgia, I downloaded it and started browsing around. The results were quite hilarious. Let's just say, www.opera.com wasn't looking that good in 10-years old browser :-P microsoft.com refused to load, and google.com was fine (at least the start page).
Martin RauscherTuesday, March 16, 2010 9:06:33 PM
Could a upload a .img of the Floppy? That would be cool!
MantasTuesday, March 16, 2010 9:38:21 PM
I want a copy of that
thobiTuesday, March 16, 2010 10:09:32 PM
http://www.igd.fhg.de/archive/1995_www95/proceedings/posters/31/
http://operawatch.com/news/2007/02/screenshots-of-the-very-first-public-version-of-opera-called-multitorg-opera.html

so weird how the web looked like some years ago

ps: download opera back to v2.0 -> http://opera-fansite.de/wiki/Download_alte_Versionen#Opera_2
pps: just had to reinstall my first version of opera. -> fastest browser on earth and hell it's fast
Daniel HendrycksTuesday, March 16, 2010 11:32:52 PM
Originally posted by Martin Rauscher:

Could a upload a .img of the Floppy?

+1
d4rkn1ghtTuesday, March 16, 2010 11:58:41 PM
JaniWednesday, March 17, 2010 7:44:48 AM
I think it would be cool if someone could find this piece of history from somewhere. It might work in a Virtual Machine

ps. haavard you probably should boldify or something the text which explains that it's just a photo... People don't seem to realize that you don't actually have the disk anymore
AnkurWednesday, March 17, 2010 7:47:44 AM
I tried to use Opera 8.6 (first release not supported by ads) at office because of how much memory Opera 10.50 is using and because 10.50 is not loading (except from cache) a page that is supposed to refresh itself.

My initial delight at how little memory 8.60 uses died down after I noticed some of the features that I have learned to not live without did not exist. At office can live without SVG support, Unite, Canvas, CSS 3, Ajax ... but not without Speeddial, and the ability to pin (lock) a tab
Cutting SpoonWednesday, March 17, 2010 9:37:07 PM
I'm guessing Opera 1's favorite OS was System/2 installed on a hamster-wheel?
olliWednesday, March 17, 2010 9:43:59 PM
I tried version 1 a few years back. Couldn't connect to anything. Guess it doesn't support current http version or something
andolWednesday, March 17, 2010 9:55:50 PM
I tried version 1 a few years back.

Maybe you needed Windows 3 with 16-bit Trumpet Winsock?
leighmanThursday, March 18, 2010 12:45:58 PM
Does it run in Wine?
webtaxMonday, March 22, 2010 5:51:32 AM
what does the word multitorg stands for?
Cutting SpoonMonday, March 22, 2010 3:32:47 PM
I'd assume multi-tab?
ZotlanMonday, March 22, 2010 4:03:31 PM
Apparently it means square.
AFAIK the early versions of Opera did not have tabs, they simply tiled the windows (multiple squares->multitorg)
Charles SchlossMonday, March 22, 2010 5:57:40 PM
Is it anything like the one pictured on here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Opera_web_browser
Yves AlexandreTuesday, March 23, 2010 7:13:13 AM
DOWANT !!