What now?

digp · 26 Sep 2010, 07:11 AM

Is there a road map for opera/fastmail?

why have things gone quiet?

Prognathous · 26 Sep 2010, 11:35 PM

I was wandering the same thing. I find the silence a bit worrying, which is why I just renewed my Enhanced account for a period of 1 year (unlike the last time, where I renewed for 3 years).

Prog.

janusz · 26 Sep 2010, 11:48 PM

Well, was there a road map for pre-Opera FM? For those who need a new feature every month there always is the beta version...

Prognathous · 27 Sep 2010, 12:59 AM

There use to be a "Coming Enhancements" page, but it was discontinued a few years ago. It wasn't much of an issue because the Fastmail team has been vocal enough about upcoming features, but they've been much quieter after the service was acquired.

robert@fm · 27 Sep 2010, 04:41 AM

Maybe things are quiet because all is running smoothly.

EdinwolfPA · 27 Sep 2010, 05:09 AM

I have said this before on the forum, as we approach the end of the year 2010, I would be surprised if I saw any "major" visible improvements to FM.

I have heard through the forum, that there has been some minor improvements made to the FM interface through FM's beta version however, I am not sure these minor improvements have been rolled out into production yet.

Now if a whole year passes by (2011), and there has NOT been any major visible changes made to FM then thats when I would start to say something, (assuming I was looking for new features, etc, since the Opera takeover).

David

n5bb · 27 Sep 2010, 06:12 AM

Email clients and service providers are tools, and I'm glad these tools don't have major visible user interface changes every month!

We are nearing three quarters through the year, and here is what I see on the Fastmail blog as improvements so far in 2010:

Truedomain anti-phishing and email authentication
IP throttling feature (guards against DDOS attacks to user web-enabled file storage)
Yubikey authenication
Opportunistic SSL/TLS encryption on outgoing emails (incoming encryption from other servers was implemented last year)
Restore from backup (this was a major feature, to my knowledge unavailable from any other provider)
Custom Sieve changes to allow both forms-based rules and custom Sieve to be used together
Migrate IMAP feature improvements
External SMTP server feature (in Personalities screen)
Folder spam/purge changes and UI additions
Quota increases for all accounts
New POP/IMAP server (major improvements in email replication, performance, integrity, strict MODSEQ, QRESYNC support and full IMAP test suite conformance, and other code cleanup.
Archive billing for business accounts
Changes to extra quota pricing which allow users to pay for only what they need

Several of these were major changes and I'm sure took many weeks of hard work. I don't see other email providers making these improvements so rapidly. So I'm confused by the complaints that things have "gone quiet". And to quote from the Fastmail Newsletter sent out via email on Aug 18, 2010:

Quote:

New FastMail developments

It's been over 3 months since FastMail was acquired by Opera Software, and we want to give our users a quick summary of what's been happening.
The first any most important thing is that we're continuing to develop and expand FastMail, its infrastructure and systems. All of the original development and support staff continue to work at Opera on the FastMail email system.
Thanks to new hardware purchases from Opera, we have been able to increase storage quotas, and with Bron's hard work, we released a large update to our IMAP server.
There's also been lots of behind the scenes hardware upgrades that have allowed us to replace over a dozen ageing servers with a new blade center that's many times more powerful computing wise, and with the added benefits of taking up less space, less power and generating less heat. These hardware upgrades will allow us to continue to grow smoothly in the future.
There's also lots of ongoing work on new ideas and products. Neil Jenkins, the main designer of FastMail's new web interface has finished university and has just started working for the mail team at Opera. We're also looking for a new backend developer (see below). There's design work and ideas on new interface improvements, and optimisations for mobile platforms in the works.
If users want to keep up to date on the latest developments, we recommend you check out our blog for regular posts. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed in your favourite news reader. Alternatively, if you don't use an RSS reader or don't want to go to the site regularly, you can subscribe to receive updates via email.

Bill

BritTim · 27 Sep 2010, 03:43 PM

Like Bill, I see some steady progress, though to say Fastmail has progressed more this year than any other email service is going too far I think.

Based on reliability and features, I recommend Fastmail to many companies and power users. Funnily enough, one of my reservations is that I think Fastmail sometimes tries to implement changes too quickly and with insufficient QA. I see effects on availability caused by this, and see it as a risk. However, the other side of that is that they are very good at reacting quickly to fix their mistakes, or deal with other urgent issues.

I see some evidence that Opera is committed to Fastmail and investing in its future. That is good enough for me. I can wait for individual feature improvements.

janusz · 27 Sep 2010, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BritTim

I see some evidence that Opera is committed to Fastmail and investing in its future

Details, please??
Personally I know of no evidence of Opera's commitment to FM (or lack thereof).

David · 27 Sep 2010, 11:42 PM

It would seem to me that Opera are certainly committed to Fastmail but not in the way that most folk here are expecting. They will (IMHO) absorb the company into their existing infrastructure, as happened with Oddpost when they were acquired by Yahoo, a few years ago now.

**ReuvenNY** · 27 Sep 2010, 11:47 PM

It looks to me that they are actually leaving FM alone - the old crew is running it 100%. Did not see any signs that they are staring to absorb FM into their current structure.

David · 28 Sep 2010, 12:08 AM

You may very well be correct ReuvenNY. What I stated was in my mind after the acquisition was first completed; I still consider this to be a distinct possibility.

yassarali · 28 Sep 2010, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by digp

Is there a road map for opera/fastmail?

why have things gone quiet?

Basically, Opera don't like to talk about specific future features, but they do have definite plans for what they want to do with the technology and the team.

Work has already started, and we hope to ramp up more shortly. As Bill indicated, we have been updating the blog. So, we always recommend you keep an eye there.

-Yassar.

hobbes · 28 Sep 2010, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yassarali

...but they do have definite plans for what they want to do with the technology and the team.

Sure, they bought the technology to provide messaginging services to link into their existing products, and the team will be involved in that.

But, how about the Fastmail service specifically? Any plans?

yassarali · 28 Sep 2010, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobbes

Sure, they bought the technology to provide messaginging services to link into their existing products, and the team will be involved in that.

But, how about the Fastmail service specifically? Any plans?

I was referring to the Fastmail "service" as well.. Opera has definite plans about that.

My recommendation is to keep an eye on the blog.

-Yassar.

26 Sep 2010, 07:11 AM	#1
digp Master of the @ Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 1,326	What now? Is there a road map for opera/fastmail? why have things gone quiet?

26 Sep 2010, 11:35 PM	#2
Prognathous Master of the @ Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Israel Posts: 1,060	I was wandering the same thing. I find the silence a bit worrying, which is why I just renewed my Enhanced account for a period of 1 year (unlike the last time, where I renewed for 3 years). Prog. Last edited by Prognathous : 28 Sep 2010 at 03:02 AM.

27 Sep 2010, 05:09 AM	#6
EdinwolfPA Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: PA Posts: 683	I have said this before on the forum, as we approach the end of the year 2010, I would be surprised if I saw any "major" visible improvements to FM. I have heard through the forum, that there has been some minor improvements made to the FM interface through FM's beta version however, I am not sure these minor improvements have been rolled out into production yet. Now if a whole year passes by (2011), and there has NOT been any major visible changes made to FM then thats when I would start to say something, (assuming I was looking for new features, etc, since the Opera takeover). David Last edited by EdinwolfPA : 27 Sep 2010 at 05:18 AM.

26 Sep 2010, 11:48 PM	#3
janusz The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: EU Posts: 4,944	Well, was there a road map for pre-Opera FM? For those who need a new feature every month there always is the beta version...

27 Sep 2010, 12:59 AM	#4
Prognathous Master of the @ Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Israel Posts: 1,060	There use to be a "Coming Enhancements" page, but it was discontinued a few years ago. It wasn't much of an issue because the Fastmail team has been vocal enough about upcoming features, but they've been much quieter after the service was acquired.

27 Sep 2010, 04:41 AM	#5
robert@fm The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 4,681	Maybe things are quiet because all is running smoothly.

27 Sep 2010, 03:43 PM	#8
BritTim The "e" in e-mail Join Date: May 2003 Location: mostly in Thailand Posts: 3,093	Like Bill, I see some steady progress, though to say Fastmail has progressed more this year than any other email service is going too far I think. Based on reliability and features, I recommend Fastmail to many companies and power users. Funnily enough, one of my reservations is that I think Fastmail sometimes tries to implement changes too quickly and with insufficient QA. I see effects on availability caused by this, and see it as a risk. However, the other side of that is that they are very good at reacting quickly to fix their mistakes, or deal with other urgent issues. I see some evidence that Opera is committed to Fastmail and investing in its future. That is good enough for me. I can wait for individual feature improvements.

27 Sep 2010, 11:42 PM	#10
David Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Canada. Posts: 10,355	It would seem to me that Opera are certainly committed to Fastmail but not in the way that most folk here are expecting. They will (IMHO) absorb the company into their existing infrastructure, as happened with Oddpost when they were acquired by Yahoo, a few years ago now.

27 Sep 2010, 11:47 PM	#11
ReuvenNY Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: New York Posts: 4,259	It looks to me that they are actually leaving FM alone - the old crew is running it 100%. Did not see any signs that they are staring to absorb FM into their current structure.

28 Sep 2010, 12:08 AM	#12
David Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Canada. Posts: 10,355	You may very well be correct ReuvenNY. What I stated was in my mind after the acquisition was first completed; I still consider this to be a distinct possibility.