Opera.com wrote:A year ago, we set out to explore what web browsers might look like in years to come. Now, you can try Opera Neon – a concept browser that gives you a glimpse into the future of desktop browsers.
If this is the future of the web-browsers better go back to the quill and the papyrus.
I wonder how much Apple has paid Opera for the advertisement.
Anyway, I agree that the future is murky and sinister.
I am afraid that that the dumbing down of mankind is now inevitably coming to computers too,
even though the computers were recently the only bright spot in the otherwise degenerating human species.
Everything is dumbing down - arts, music, movies, culture, communication, politics, news ...
For computers that means (Windows 8 and 10 are moving in that direction) :
fewer choices, just a few simple buttons to push, no control for You whatsoever,
don't try to be a smart-ass - just join the stupid masses, and let them "handle You" the way it suits them.
I think it is time for an alternative open-source universe for those who want to use their brains.
A universe that includes - an operating system with a fair degree of consensus and standardization
(the current Linux etc version diversity is still too confusing), and sufficient tools that work on it
(so we do not have to stick to Windows just because it has the most software programs that work on it).
It's a bad joke ! Opera for 5-year-old children.
Basically it is Opera (the new Chrome-based version, of course) - without the extensions.
In other words, "cripple-ware", if You are more generous You will call it "toddler-ware".
Then, what is left of Chrome, they shrunk and reduced further - down to just a few buttons and menu items.
Focus, of course, is on popular toys - online videos, galleries ... basically entertainment.
For any serious work - forget it ! Not even a password manager.
This is like those so-called "browsers" on SourceFourge, where some 12-years-old would-be programmer
takes the Internet Explorer engine and adds a GUI with just 4 buttons (no other buttons or menus),
like - Go, Back, ForWard, and ReFresh.
It's a concept browser, meant solely to explore (in this case, fun/playful) ideas on a bare-bones framework, hence lack of bookmarks, extensions, the ability to import from other browsers, and other "work" features. The analogy to a concept car I think sums it up best.
Opera intends to introduce some parts of it into their main browser, as they state at the end of their blog post.
Just to make it clear in my case: I don't like the concept itself, not the lack of features. I completely understand if someone else likes it, it's just not for me.
I haven't tried Neon yet, but I'm actually in favor of simplifying the GUI.
I mostly use mouse gestures and keyboard shortcuts to navigate the browser anyway, so I don't need superfluous buttons like Back, Forward, Go and what have you.
PFW got hit with this when the Maxthon browser went rogue back in July.
The current king Google Chrome has set a precedent for other browsers to lower their own bar for data privacy. For Opera specifically, they are in some stage of getting purchased so I'm cynical to think they're going to stand up to requests by management or stakeholders who want to sell more and more user data.
That said, I do understand the notion of a concept browser and how it's not ready for prime time. I definitely recognize that basic browser view and navigation haven't changed a great deal over the years. Still, in the current environment, I'd like to see a security-and-privacy-first focus. Don't tell me now it's going to make me happy -- tell me how it's not going to hurt me.