Sneak Peak: Opera Unite

Opera has announced that it will be bundling Unite, a user friendly Web server with applets that can share content, along with their new web browser Opera 10. This sounds great, initially, but with a closer look, there are some potentially huge security flaws.

As of now, Unite is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux as an alpha version of software. In other words, it most likely can and will break. Often. (I have experienced many freezes and disconnects.) Regardless, I was able to make it function on my systems running SimplyMepis 8.0 and Windows XP.

Opera Unite, on paper, functions as a file sharing system on your computer. Your MP3s, photos, videos, etc. can easily be shared with your friends across the world. There are also applets that allow you, for one instance, to host discussion forums and real-time chats. Any user, regardless of the browser they are using, will be able to access what you want to share.

Unite acts as both a Web server and Web browser. With the applets running JavaScript, the user will quickly be able to set up what services you want to offer and what you want to share, for example a forum for online discussion. Users do not connect directly to your PC, rather, they will connect to proxy servers run by Opera. Through these proxy servers, Opera will pull whatever data you want to share. One instance would be sharing either just one directory of music, or you can share all your music.

In order for this to run, you must have port 8840 open on your PC and internet connection. In order to share your data, you must tell your friends your Unite URL. The URL will be composed of your computer name, your username on Opera, and the name of the Unite service you use.

The security still needs to be fixed, however. The password is part of your Unite URL, and additionally, Unite does not use encryption, so hackers can quickly pick up your password. Hopefully, future generations of Unite will give us some better security options.

Though Unite is not a particularly revolutionary idea, it does offer some potentially useful features, if properly integrated. Opera Unite is still in its baby stages, so there is hope for a drastic improvement in its security flaws. Meanwhile, if you don't want to use 3rd party software, you can always use a web host to set up your own website.