When I first heard that Opera would "reinvent the web", I was skeptical like many others. I hit the Opera server and downloaded the file and installed it to give it a try.
I could not deny that I liked the application in the first look. The ideas were very nicely thought, especially file and photo sharing, the "fridge" where people can post notes to you, media player and the so-called Web Server where you can host your own websites. We can basically say that Opera Unite is Opera web browser plus an integrated web server. The idea behind was simple but contrary to the current cloud trend: instead of relying on the "cloud", Opera relies on individual computers with the peer-to-peer concept.
With Opera Unite, you do not need to upload your documents to Google Docs/Zoho/whatever but share them directly from your browser. Quite nice, but adds another shortcoming: how will you be able to track changes? The point of sharing documents is not sending them in attachments back and forth. But rather collaborating on them in real time. I did not find any information that addresses this issue in Opera. There is also the web browser problem. You cannot say "if you want to use these features, you have to use Opera." I am very happy with my Firefox on my Linux box and I personally do not think positive about changing it. OK, I have no problems with the change, it is basically an installation and getting used to it. But what about the people I am working with? Are they willing to change their browsers? I don't think so. Still, people did not upgrade to Internet Explorer 7, most of them didn't hear Firefox, let alone have a clue about Opera. Most of the people are resistant to change, the minority Thaccepts it. In this issue, Opera has taken steps, but they have to ensure that the interoperability works seemlessly.
What about the security issues? Opera Unite implicitly assumes that all the users are good-mannered. I am not to blame anybody, but if the bad guys weren't out there, there would be no security products. If I am running a web server, then it is extremely possible that I will face attacks exploiting the holes to get control of my computer. Considering the increasing malware attacks, this can happen sooner than we think. (Update: Seems that I am not the only one. Scott M. Fulton, III from Betanews goes a little more technical for this issue in his article "How Secure is Opera Unite.")
These are my first thoughts. Looking at the Unite and the potential it holds, I believe it is a very exciting to see the changes it offers about how we use the web. Considering the software that will be released by the brilliant developer brains, I can see more news ahead.
The bottomline? Hit the Opera Unite website, download Unite and use it. I am sure you will find something that you will like about it. But I have to say that the product is in alpha stage and there are rough corners.
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Tolga BALCI
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Tolga BALCI Blog
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Jun 17 2009, 09:59 PM