Is Facebook about to buy Opera to create own Facebook browser?

[A Guy]

Oh god, say it isn't so! If they screw up my Opera browser, I will be severely pissed!!

A Facebook browser that would allow you keep up to date with your social life from in-built plug-ins and features on the menu bar could be on the cards. Pocket-lint has heard from one of its trusted sources that the social networking giant is looking to buy Opera Software, the company behind the Opera web browser.

According to our man in the know, the company could be about to expand into the browser space to take on the likes of Google, Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla and now even Yahoo, who has recently launched its own browser.

Source

A Guy

 

[lafnsu]

I'm thinking that will be the last time I use Opera....sigh.

 

[Dave76]

That is not good, hope it doesn't happen.

I really like Opera but, will stop using it if this goes through.

 

[smarteyeball]

I can't say this pleases me at all. Not one little bit

If Opera does become Flopera - I'll be jumping ship too which is a damn shame since Opera's continual extension improvement (and improvement overall as a browser) has been rendering FF more and more redundant to me personally.

I've never been able to find any love for Chrome, IE or Safari (or variants of those). It's always been FF or Opera for me. Over time, Opera slowly and systematically finally knocked FF off as my favourite/regular browser.

If it does go ahead - I hope they offer a 'regular' non-FB version alongside a FB one. I'm not against a Facebook orientated browser - it sounds great for those who are heavy facebook users; but not at the expense of my favourite.

Another downside is that it could potentially become one hell of a malware target.

I guess we'll all have to wait and see how this pans out...

 

[A Guy]

Only speculation as of now, but I hope Opera gives them the thumbs down. Opera has been my default browser since soon after it became a free browser. IE is ok, FF just has too many issues, Chrome is too plain, etc. Here's hoping it's just a rumor, I can see no good coming from it. A Guy

 

[Beta]

The move makes sense for Facebook. Then want to stay relivent and this would be one way to do so.

 

[smarteyeball]

I'm fine with FB having their own toys - but between the billions, surely a deal could be struck to buy some source code and developers hired to turn it into it's own unique browser without ruining it for us non-FB users.

 

[seekermeister]

Rumors can sometimes be true, but considering the fact that the article is written by a person that I don't know, on a website I'm not familiar with, and cites an anonymous source, I will consider this to be like most gossip...a lot of wind. Thinking about the stubborn manner in which Opera's management has acted in the past, I seriously doubt that this will happen, but if it does, I don't know what browser that I would use, because I don't like anything else that I have tried in the past. I have been using Opera since version 6.0 and will remain doing so to version 60.0...unless something stupid like this happens.

 

[Tarka Dal]

I really don't like Facebook so I don't like the idea of Facebopera.....

 

[A Guy]

Report: Facebook in Talks to Buy Browser-Maker Opera

A spokeswoman for Facebook declined to comment about the rumor when contacted by PCMag on Friday. Opera also declined to comment.

"As a standard policy Opera does not respond to market rumors and we have no comment to the rumor addressed in the question," the company said in a statement.

Source

A Guy

 

[pparks1]

I don't see where facebook getting involved necessarily means a death sentence for Opera.

 

[A Guy]

I fear they'd want to turn it into a "social media" browser. With dedicated FB features and such. Their goal would be different then Opera's currently, IMHO. A Guy

 

[pparks1]

Why would they put in facebook features into a browser which typically has a very small amount of market share? They need to keep the facebook features in the facebook website, for those of us who visit the site with IE, FF, Chrome or Safari.

 

[A Guy]

Connect to FB, FB uploader, FB updates in the browser. All seem feasible. I'm not saying it will be the only browser for visiting FB. The small market share would not be their goal, they certainly wouldn't want to acquire a nice little browser to keep it that way. To be honest, I just like Opera as it is, and I don't want to see it become the next FF or Chrome. A Guy

 

[pparks1]

^ I understand. when you find a product and you like it, you don't want it to change. I used to be an ardent fan of Firefox and cannot even believe myself that I don't use it today.

 

[smarteyeball]

An FB branded browser just reeks of bloat.

There's a lot of features I don't use in Opera as it is. Adding dedicated FB features just adds another layer of crud.


The real answer to 'stick or ditch' can only be answered when actually used if it goes ahead. Until then it's just speculation.

It's still not an appealing idea however.