Goodbye, Opera (and μTorrent, too!)

Started by ForeverZer0, August 12, 2014, 06:32:04 am

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ForeverZer0

For the past 4-5 years, I have been a loyal user of Opera (technically Opera Next...), but that time has come to an end. For the past year or so, the direction Opera has taken in development has made it too far removed from the reason I loved it the first place. Gone are all the great features that I loved.

It seems like since they made the switch to Chromium, things have turned to the worst. I don't blame the engine, it is is superior in my opinion, and the switch did drastically help with Opera's biggest fallback at the time, which was compatibility. But around the same time, they begin to turn it into a browser for "the common people", and begin removing all the great features that allowed me to tweak it to just how I liked. The "settings" have turned into an extremely basic couple of options that really don't allow you to customize anything (Internet Explorer has more options...). I was thinking the other day, what exactly does Opera have that makes it better than the competition, and sadly, my answer was "nothing".  The few things that set it apart, such as Speed Dial, are commonplace in all the other browsers now, or a simple add-on which supports even more customization to the look and feel of it than Opera ever offered.

So, with a heavy heart, I have made my switch to Chrome as my daily driver. I have already found a Speed Dial extension that suits  my needs, and I have found a great deal of other extensions that have already improved my browsing experience beyond what Opera has done in a long time. I have not noticed any difference in speed, both are top-performers (both use the same rendering engine), and I have found a lot more support and interest in Chrome.

On another note, I have also since abandoned μTorrent.  It used to be the best torrent client out there, without anything else even coming close in my opinion, but now it is turning into nothing but ad-ware. Since version 2.2.1 (it is now 3.4.2), I don't think anything really positive has been added to it, just different ways to annoy users with ads.  Sure, I can go into the "advanced settings" and with the help of Google manage to turn off the right things to make the ads go away, but its the very principle of it all, and the direction the company has taken that turns me off to it.  If anyone else feels the same way, I have found another great client over at SourceForge called qBittorrent. It is minimalistic, and aims at reproducing the good old μTorrent without all the extra crap. I have found that it performs equally well, has all the same options that I like, comes with no ads, and is even open-source.

In the end, I am happy with the new software I am using, but I just find it sad the direction developers have taken with their products, and turned them from masterpieces, to complete crap that alienates the users that their product targets. No longer will I remain supporting software when this is the direction taken. I would rather give my support to developers who strive for satisfaction of their target audience, and not how much crap can they cram into it to annoy people enough to purchase the "premium" edition.
I am done scripting for RMXP. I will likely not offer support for even my own scripts anymore, but feel free to ask on the forum, there are plenty of other talented scripters that can help you.

Blizzard

August 12, 2014, 07:55:01 am #1 Last Edit: August 12, 2014, 07:56:11 am by Blizzard
I never needed that many options so why I use Opera is because of different reasons. There are a few things that I really use (e.g. pinned tabs) and that's all I need. I agree that they've stripped it down. I guess they realized that the original was too bloated so they decided to start over and implement only the stuff that users request. Unfortunately it's taking a lot of time.
I've tried Chrome in several instances and honestly it was actually always significantly slower than Opera Next. That plus all the spy shit from Google. I have SRWare Iron as a secondary browser which is basically Chrome minus Google spy shit if I need "Chrome" specifically for something.

I totally agree with uTorrent. I am especially annoyed by it trying to recognize and sync stuff on my phone (which it incorrectly recognizes as Galaxy Tab 3). I don't use it very often so I won't bother switching. But yes, the adware shit is really going too far. It's a shame. I even once completed some survey of theirs where I said that they shouldn't keep bloating it with unnecessary stuff. Obviously my criticism fell on deaf ears.
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Quote from: Barney StinsonWhen I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.

ForeverZer0

Quote from: Blizzard on August 12, 2014, 07:55:01 am
I have SRWare Iron as a secondary browser which is basically Chrome minus Google spy shit if I need "Chrome" specifically for something.


Never heard of this, will have to check it out.

Quote from: Blizzard on August 12, 2014, 07:55:01 am
I even once completed some survey of theirs where I said that they shouldn't keep bloating it with unnecessary stuff. Obviously my criticism fell on deaf ears.


I have seen out kind of outrage over this crap, and they don't seem to care. NOBODY is happy with this ad crap, and they simply don't give a shit about their users anymore, it's COMPLETELY about profit now, which is reason enough for me to no longer support them. I understand trying to generate revenue, but bloating it with numerous methods of annoying users with ads is not the way to do it. In every software community I frequent, people complain about this, and complain to utorrent themselves (look at their own forum), but they have gotten to "big" to care anymore.

I am highly against the whole concept of having ads in a program unless you pay for it, which is a popular trend nowadays, especially with smart phone apps. I have nothing against having a limited free version, and a paid version that contains extra features and/or content, but simply making the difference between the two is one contains annoyances pisses me off, I view it as a disrespect to the people who will use it.
I am done scripting for RMXP. I will likely not offer support for even my own scripts anymore, but feel free to ask on the forum, there are plenty of other talented scripters that can help you.

Zexion

Hmm, I've never really used opera. I downloaded it at one point, but it lagged a lot on my older laptop so I had to uninstall it. From what I remember it was pretty cool though. It always sucks when the programs you like start going south. I never updated uTorrent, so I don't have ads o.o Thanks to tuggernuts mentioning the ads in skype, I was able to avoid the latest update haha.

I'm actually looking for a new browser that doesn't eat so much memory. I hate that chrome takes up so much memory because I can't really game + browse without lag and overheating.

locowhiteknight

l used Opera back in the and thought it was decent. I never really jumped on the Chrome bandwagon because of all the tracking the NS... I mean Google does. I'll have to check out that stripped down version you've posted.

My question is: Where's the love for Firefox in this thread?
"Let's get down to brass tacks. How much for the ape?"

ForeverZer0

In my opinion, Firefox is better than Internet Explorer, but that's it.
Never really cared for it for some reason.
I am done scripting for RMXP. I will likely not offer support for even my own scripts anymore, but feel free to ask on the forum, there are plenty of other talented scripters that can help you.

Blizzard

FF has gotten pretty bad over the past few years. Bloated with shit, slow, buggy, etc. If you add plugins, it's even worse. I've heard from a lot of people who have been using Firefox for years that they switched to another browser and it's usually Chrome.

@F0: I'm even ok with a few ads in smart phone apps (point being A FEW ADS, not a freaking shitload of them that makes the app almost unusable). But ads in desktop ads? That's unacceptable.
Check out Daygames and our games:

King of Booze 2      King of Booze: Never Ever
Drinking Game for Android      Never have I ever for Android
Drinking Game for iOS      Never have I ever for iOS


Quote from: winkioI do not speak to bricks, either as individuals or in wall form.

Quote from: Barney StinsonWhen I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.

Ryex

I use Chromium (open source base of chrome). I keep FF around for occasional use if something seems to break or I need to use a specific addon (ie Download them all).
for torrents I use Deluge.

very recent versions of FF are starting to improve on the bloat and instability but chrome just seems to always work and work fast for me.

personally I'm very interested in the development of Breach . I't pretty buggy and clearly pre alpha atm but the concept is extremely promising is they can keep it fairly optimised
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