Opera has always been wanting to do more with its product, and widgets and Unite are examples of this, not to mention the Opera Platform (a mobile phone UI implemented with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, that unfortunately never made it anywhere). Oh, and BitTorrent, which I just remembered, because you sure don't see it in the user interface anywhere.

You're not alone thinking Opera has focused too much on creating new things ... internally people have also been thinking and saying this. I remember people complained regularly about Opera crashing when I worked there, although I personally have never had much problems with stability.

The lack of polish on the desktop version could also be because they have been putting a lot more resources on the mobile version ... after all, they bring in a lot more money. Opera is also a lot more successful in the mobile market, as the original article mentions. Opera Mobile is a great product, and Opera Mini is just amazing.