Tuesday, April 25th 2023
Opera Unveils Opera One, an Entirely Redesigned Browser
Opera is unveiling Opera One today. Opera One is the early access version of a completely redesigned browser that is planned to replace the flagship Opera browser for Windows, MacOS, and Linux later this year. Based on Modular Design, Opera One transforms the way you interact with your browser, delivering a liquid navigation experience which is more intuitive to the user. With today's release, Opera One also becomes the first major Chromium-based browser with a multithreaded compositor that brings the UI to life like never before. Opera One also introduces Tab Islands, a new, more intuitive way of interacting with and managing multiple tabs. This news from the company comes just weeks after announcing its first generative AI features, including AI Prompts, as well as access to ChatGPT and ChatSonic in the sidebar.
Introducing the first implementation of Modular Design
Opera has a history of reinventing itself to address the changing needs of its users as well as the evolving nature of the web. With Opera One, the browser has been redesigned according to Modular Design. The new design philosophy, which is being presented today for the first time, will allow Opera to over time build a more powerful and feature-rich browser that is ready for a generative AI-based future. The Opera browser is thus beginning its metamorphosis into a browser that will dynamically adapt to the user's needs by bringing only the key features to the foreground: the relevant modules within Opera One will adjust automatically based on context, providing the user with a more liquid and effortless browsing experience.
As opposed to adding more and more features and highlighting them, every element in Opera One has been closely evaluated for relevance. As a result, the browser has a cleaner, decluttered look with plenty of space for future AI-based features and extensions in both the browser sidebar and address bar. With Opera One, ChatGPT, ChatSonic and the new AI Prompts feature are switched on by default.
Beyond creating space for existing generative AI services, the new design is also laying the groundwork for the AI services Opera is planning to unveil in the near future.
First major browser with Multithreaded Compositor for super smooth UI experience
The power of the web has been continuously growing, enabling high performance graphics operations on websites without interruptions by other processes. With Opera One, Opera is introducing a similar approach to the browser user interface, implementing a new multithreaded compositor to deliver a faster and smoother user interface layer. With the Multithreaded Compositor, Opera One is the first major Chromium-based browser that brings its UI to life like never before. Combined with the new Modular Design Principles, this new architecture enables the implementation of new features and allows Opera to continue its differentiation from other Chromium-based browsers. One of the new features made possible by the improved browser architecture is Tab Islands.
Tab Islands: a new, intuitive way of interacting with tabs
Tab Islands is a new feature that delivers a smooth and intuitive experience built for users that interact with many tabs.
Researchers have found that the existing tab design in browsers makes it difficult to jump between sets of tasks. Moreover, according to Opera's research, the majority of people feel overwhelmed by how messy their tabs get and wish web browsers would do more to help them manage their tabs.
Opera One's new Tab Islands address this challenge. Tab Islands are a new way of keeping tabs that are related to each other together in an intuitive way - without forcing users to change their habits. Are you looking for the best lunch restaurant? The tabs with the menus, locations, and restaurant details will open in a dedicated tab island. Do you have a bunch of Google Docs you use for work? They, too, can get a tab island of their own. As you browse and more tab islands are created, you can easily distinguish the topics you were focusing on and switch between them. In the new, reinvented version of Opera, Tab Islands are the first manifestation of its Modular Design: they are clearly distinguishable in the browser UI, marked by separate colors and clear island borders.
"Tab Islands are a natural way of arranging your tabs into contextual groups without disturbing your flow. They make it easy to keep tabs that relate to each other in groups that you can open and collapse as needed. This makes browsing with many tabs more efficient, allowing for a more pleasant, liquid browsing experience," said Joanna Czajka, product director at Opera.
Tab islands are automatically created to keep the tabs together within the same browsing context. Open websites can also be gathered into a tab island by pressing the CTRL/Command button and clicking on the ones you want to group and then right clicking to create a tab island. They can also be moved by dragging and dropping between islands. You can also add to an existing tab island by drag and drop or by pressing the small plus button on the side of the island.
Popular AI features in the sidebar
Opera's updates in early 2023 that included the addition of generative AI features into the browser have paved the way for this new, redesigned browser. In the future, Opera will morph to become fully modular, making the browser UI more intuitive and functional.
"Opera One is the first instance of our smart, modular design within Opera. It marks the beginning of a chain of innovation, including Opera's own AI engine to be shipped in the coming months. The web just got smarter and faster with generative AI. With Opera One, we are ready to embrace and lead that change," added Czajka.
Source:
Opera
Introducing the first implementation of Modular Design
Opera has a history of reinventing itself to address the changing needs of its users as well as the evolving nature of the web. With Opera One, the browser has been redesigned according to Modular Design. The new design philosophy, which is being presented today for the first time, will allow Opera to over time build a more powerful and feature-rich browser that is ready for a generative AI-based future. The Opera browser is thus beginning its metamorphosis into a browser that will dynamically adapt to the user's needs by bringing only the key features to the foreground: the relevant modules within Opera One will adjust automatically based on context, providing the user with a more liquid and effortless browsing experience.
Beyond creating space for existing generative AI services, the new design is also laying the groundwork for the AI services Opera is planning to unveil in the near future.
First major browser with Multithreaded Compositor for super smooth UI experience
The power of the web has been continuously growing, enabling high performance graphics operations on websites without interruptions by other processes. With Opera One, Opera is introducing a similar approach to the browser user interface, implementing a new multithreaded compositor to deliver a faster and smoother user interface layer. With the Multithreaded Compositor, Opera One is the first major Chromium-based browser that brings its UI to life like never before. Combined with the new Modular Design Principles, this new architecture enables the implementation of new features and allows Opera to continue its differentiation from other Chromium-based browsers. One of the new features made possible by the improved browser architecture is Tab Islands.
Tab Islands: a new, intuitive way of interacting with tabs
Tab Islands is a new feature that delivers a smooth and intuitive experience built for users that interact with many tabs.
Researchers have found that the existing tab design in browsers makes it difficult to jump between sets of tasks. Moreover, according to Opera's research, the majority of people feel overwhelmed by how messy their tabs get and wish web browsers would do more to help them manage their tabs.
Opera One's new Tab Islands address this challenge. Tab Islands are a new way of keeping tabs that are related to each other together in an intuitive way - without forcing users to change their habits. Are you looking for the best lunch restaurant? The tabs with the menus, locations, and restaurant details will open in a dedicated tab island. Do you have a bunch of Google Docs you use for work? They, too, can get a tab island of their own. As you browse and more tab islands are created, you can easily distinguish the topics you were focusing on and switch between them. In the new, reinvented version of Opera, Tab Islands are the first manifestation of its Modular Design: they are clearly distinguishable in the browser UI, marked by separate colors and clear island borders.
"Tab Islands are a natural way of arranging your tabs into contextual groups without disturbing your flow. They make it easy to keep tabs that relate to each other in groups that you can open and collapse as needed. This makes browsing with many tabs more efficient, allowing for a more pleasant, liquid browsing experience," said Joanna Czajka, product director at Opera.
Tab islands are automatically created to keep the tabs together within the same browsing context. Open websites can also be gathered into a tab island by pressing the CTRL/Command button and clicking on the ones you want to group and then right clicking to create a tab island. They can also be moved by dragging and dropping between islands. You can also add to an existing tab island by drag and drop or by pressing the small plus button on the side of the island.
Popular AI features in the sidebar
Opera's updates in early 2023 that included the addition of generative AI features into the browser have paved the way for this new, redesigned browser. In the future, Opera will morph to become fully modular, making the browser UI more intuitive and functional.
"Opera One is the first instance of our smart, modular design within Opera. It marks the beginning of a chain of innovation, including Opera's own AI engine to be shipped in the coming months. The web just got smarter and faster with generative AI. With Opera One, we are ready to embrace and lead that change," added Czajka.
15 Comments on Opera Unveils Opera One, an Entirely Redesigned Browser
The internet use to be called the World Wide Web. We should lean into that web metaphor again.
Edit: a www browser should be a globe of the world with all information geolocated. There should be tons of customizable layers based on what interests you. Real time weather layer, locations of game developer HQs that are clickable for getting game info, sports arenas where you can zoom in and watch a game playing in real time, etc.
The WWW should be a massive global interactive map that can be experienced on 2D desktops and in 3D virtual reality. Seamless switching between the two can add another feature rich interaction space.
Edit 2: I mean is there really a big difference from this:
To this:
It's not open source (still Chromium based, so most bits are already out there), so a bit of a hassle to install on some Linux distros. But otherwise it works a treat.
Hmm...
then chinese company with shady advertising and fraud past got control of significant part of Opera company share
what is the point of using browser where you can't trust it's safe
There are probably a couple dozen major factors that influenced this but for sure the commercialization of the Internet was one of the major influences.
Now the (legal acceptable) Internet is all about corporations and their products and services. This was not the case during the Nineties.
Even Zuckerberg's lofty Metaverse dream appears to be DOA in its current form. I think part of that is consumer pushback; some people don't want to live their online lives completely controlled by Meta/FB.
There's also the notion of some concepts not fitting into the Planet Earth framework. What about subjects like Linux system administration, Star Wars, or gardening? Where should web pages on the Early Girl tomato cultivar live on virtual Planet Earth? Or fan schematics of R2-D2?
I do think the Internet should be something more than just a bunch of companies and their revenue generating activities. However the consumer climate in 2023 seems to lean toward pure monetization. And Generation Z is being indoctrinated at a very early age that being online is directly related to monetizable value, whether it be microtransactions in videogames or social media views (such as "likes" on TikTok).
People who are familiar with the World Wide Web in the Nineties have a greater understanding of what the Internet once was, its missed opportunities, and ultimately the acceptance that today's Internet audience doesn't seem to care about an expansive universe.
Hell, a lot of today's Internet users are now too lazy to even use a search engine when appropriate or time expedient.
Going back to the original topic, this is window dressing on a Chinese owned web browser. Ultimately it will do what is in the best interests of China the civilization. That's what the Chinese do and it's why it is one of the oldest enduring civilizations. When the time for humans nears its end, China will be there.
And it does not have any connection to browser - it is not something that browser could do.
But it is interesting business idea - next gen of Wikipedia, maybe? It could be very interesting, albeit quite hard to achieve.And how is that different than any Chromium browser on the market? Google is for sure not trustworthy...Mhm, Chromium at its finest.Exactly. I couldn't agree more. I think that the Internet these days is just a bland shadow of what it was during the 90s and early 00s. And it is so over-commercialized that it is painful to watch.
Also, what is the point of using search engines, when 99% of them are just there to sell you more commercialized content?Chrome is windows-dressing over a US owned browser. And so on, so on... Same can be said for any browser...
There are less commercialized search engines like DuckDuckGo and Startpage today and defunct ones like Altavista (RIP).
And using a search engine does not excuse the viewer from using their brain in interpreting the search results. Unfortunately an increasingly large percentage of Internet users don't seem to understand this.
In my (unpopular) opinion, the Internet peaked around 2006 or 2007. Smartphones have brought the swift decline of the Internet.
Steve Jobs referred to the iPhone as "the computer for the rest of us." He was eerily correct. Putting a computer in everyone's hands for all of their waking hours has caused more problems than it has solved.
Giving everyone a voice all hours of the day every day of the year has not made the Internet a better place. It just created more noise.
The world doesn't need a "better web browser." It needs to push back from the computer, periodically put their smartphone in airplane mode, and keep it in a pocket. Smart watches are accelerating the Internet's decline as well; I think their health tracking features are astounding but their constant connectivity is not a good thing for most users.
I've been spending less time here at TPU over the past few months. But not just this site but the Internet in general. I'm better off spending a large chunk of my day away from the Internet. It's always there if I need to solve a problem or researching something. But in 2023, the Internet is a sh!tty place to hang out. Most of it is an online ghetto and many formerly community focused places are seeing significant degradation in overall user experience.
But that's the Internet in 2023. People have turned it into what they want it to be. And by giving everyone a voice in the matter has turned the Web into the lowest common denominator. Diverse but not focused toward quality.
C'mon guys, stop copying Apple, it's getting ridiculous.
Have the balls to come up with your own design and naming, or you're going to be a beta forever.