Opera 12: new version, new features, new competitive challenges
Opera is releasing version 12 of the Opera browser today, with new features for theming, controlling your computer's hardware from the browser without using a plugin, speed, and security. — VentureBeat talked …
Context & Ripple Effects
Opera entered 2012 with a broad browser footprint: it had marked 200 million users alongside a lighter Opera 11.5 release, then extended version 12 to Android, Symbian and iOS through its mobile and Mini browsers. Desktop Opera 12 makes the browser’s feature set—rather than a single platform—its competitive unit.
The release adds theming, speed and security work, but its differentiator is browser-level hardware control without a plugin. That puts Opera’s browser in a more direct position between web applications and the device.
First-order effects
- Opera 12 gives developers a route to hardware-related browser capabilities without relying on plugins, while Opera users gain a browser with those functions built in.
- Opera must compete for desktop adoption on both baseline browser qualities—speed and security—and differentiated web capabilities, rather than on its established mobile releases alone.
Second-order effects
- Plugin-dependent web experiences face pressure to move functionality into browser-supported interfaces where Opera’s implementation is available.
- Other browser vendors are pushed to match hardware-access capabilities and security performance if developers begin targeting such browser-native features.
Third-order effects
- If browser-based hardware access gains developer support, browsers become a more consequential application platform, reducing the role of third-party plugins as the bridge between websites and devices.
The trend: Web browsers are expanding from page-rendering clients into device-facing application platforms, with native capabilities replacing plugin-mediated functions.