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.
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:
http://www.favbrowser.com/opera-the-past-the-present-the-fut...
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.