Desktop is a smaller and smaller part of their income. It could disappear tomorrow, and the company would still be in great shape. It's growing all over the place. So again, claiming that Opera self-destructed is silly.
Thenwhat? Huh? A fork is taking the code in a new direction and making it differ from the original. Using the code as-is, is not a fork.
Most Opera users are on mobile, not desktop. Opera is struggling on desktop. Sites weren't working, and that was the #1 problem with the browser. Fixing that will let them grow. Opera's got nothing to lose on the desktop. They can only gain users by doing this, even if a handful of hardcore users drop them.
Most people don't need most features in Opera 12, but they're just getting started with the new Opera. Now they can create a proper foundation instead of this:
Opera 15 is not a fork of Chrome either. It's using Chrome (Chromium) as-is, but with a new user interface on top of it.
In other words: They may alienate a small hardcore group, but fixing site compatibility will more than make up for it because other people can finally start using it.
Why do you think Opera self-destructed? They announced their quarterly financial results a couple of weeks ago, and they set another revenue and profit record. They're basically growing on all fronts, have plenty of cash in the bank, and are growing their profits.
So again, what self-destruction are you referring to?
I ran a clean installation of Opera 12, and there was no e-mail client. It is actually there, but you won't even notice unless you set up an account. So to anyone who doesn't make an account it's exactly as if there was no email client.
And your comment about slimming down Opera is quite funny considering that Opera 12 with a full mail client is less than half the size of Chrome...
Opera slow and bloated? Excuse me, but did you look at the download size? Opera 12 is tiny compared to Chrome and the new version, and it has a much smaller footprint. Opera runs on old hardware Chrome couldn't even dream of running on.
Thenwhat? Huh? A fork is taking the code in a new direction and making it differ from the original. Using the code as-is, is not a fork.