Opera is now free
Opera is now completely free. Both the ad banners and the licensing fee have been removed.
Coming so soon after their 10th year anniversary, the timing is likely a response to the large response that they had when they were giving away free reg codes.
I don't have time to write properly on this decision (hence my decision to relegate this to a short) but here are my immediate reservations.
I'm still not 100% convinced that they will benefit as much as they believe they will. Firstly, the ramp in popularity during that day was largely a result of the believed scarcity and rarity of the event. It was more a sales mentality e.g. grab them whilst they're hot and it'll still be a struggle for them to translate that into long-term (paying) users.
Secondly, their browser is still in my view clunkier than FF. Even when cost is not an issue, I still prefer FF over Opera.
Thirdly, it'll be hard for them to convince people to pay for support. Non paying users benefit from paying customers in the form of bug fixes, enhancements etc. Casual and new users are also more likely to abandon the platform rather than pay for support. Existing paying customers do not appear to have been compensated for supporting Opera. There simply isn't enough incentive to be a paying customer.
As much as the hippy in me would like to applaud Opera for what they've done, I fear that this will only have a negative effect to their profitability.
BTW, according to my stats, about 2% of visitors to this site use Opera. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on this announcement.
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I reckon the biggest reason for this is their expansion outside the desktop area. After all, as you say, how’s anyone gonna make money from paid email support. They will get back to you in under 24 hours though. Who pays for that?
But they’re pretty much the name for mobile browser technology.
Good point and I think that you have it in one; they’re treating the desktop browser product as a loss-leader to stimulate and support their other endeavors.
That’s what I’m hearing as well, until an open source alternative comes along, mini-firefox or something, Opera seem to have the edge here. I guess IE is going strong on their pile of shit spv or whatever they call their mobiles, but we all know IE is shit.
You should be careful not to start another fanboys vs zealots war.
Opera has survived for ten years, so even though they are not the most popular, they seem to be strong enough.
Opera desktop revenues should come by affiliate parterns (Opera Desktop goes free).
Firefox phone call for support is as expensive as an Opera license. When you need support for any of these browsers, forums are the place to ask.
Paying customers should still get premium support or ask their money back.