Opera (the browser) has officially been sold:
Opera Software ASA (“Opera” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the transaction between Opera Software ASA and Golden Brick Capital Private Equity Fund I L.P. (the “Buyer”) on the sale and purchase of Opera’s consumer business for $575 million (the “Transaction”) has been successfully closed.
The company has basically been split into two parts, where the browser and some more has been transferred to a Chinese company, while the advertising part remains a separate company.
I’m still using the Opera browser, but I will be keeping an even closer eye on Vivaldi in the future. I don’t think it can replace Opera for me quite yet, though.
A Blog From Outside the Trenches 
Unfortunately, I have same feelings. Strategy is far anymore from users. Vivaldi will not be replace completely, but now it is just option we have…