Opera: The ignored browser

It is not a bad browser. Yet whenever I use it I always find myself going back to Chrome or Firefox. There is something "off" about it that I can't put my finger on...
 
The main reason I use Firefox is for the web development addons like Firebug. Otherwise I would definitely use Opera.
 
Diabolous I also went through a phase with mutliple pcs, different OS's etc and found opera was the best option because it ran on more platforms and was the same and it did everything I needed out of the box whereas with firefox you'd have to go download all the extensions etc first. Now I only really use it on work laptop and home laptop and my phone of course so it's not really a problem. As for bookmarks I admittedly don't use bookmarks much at all. Speed dial set to 5x3 (ie. 15 sites) is enough for me. For anything else there's google.
 
Okay so I save web archives (.mht files in IE) and then when I am offline I may refer to them, years later even. Except sometimes (enough times) IE crashes because it needs to go online to fetch the ads, execute javascript etc.

A simple drag and drop and Opera renders the pages saved by IE that IE could not render. I also like the innovative features - like the gadgets, dragging images into a new window and zooming like crazy. It is nice to save the windows, so I can restore offline or online pages based on the context of what I am doing - for example reading html help files or books - and it remembers the scroll position. Try that with IE!

I use a bit of both, I have never properly enjoyed the Firefox experience though.
 
Bare Bones version

If they just also put out a bare ones version I would be there today already
Why limit your options :confused:

I used to use it a lot -- now I am stuck on FF -- till they bring out the browser ONLY option.


MW
 
In the past at some stage there was a point where you could tick on the things you want and download an installer/executable that only included those. Would be nice. Opera "deluxe" is still faster/lighter than firefox with no extensions installed.
 
Used Opera until I started using roboform as my password manager. Roboform does not have Opera integartion. Now use IE8 and FF.
 
Opera is the best browser available today, they are now one of the only browsers that are fully web standards complaint. It is also the fastest and easiest to use. Right click on the bottom panel and select customize > appearance. There at the Progress Bar drop down list, choose "Pop-up at bottom", then Opera shows the current speed, how much bandwidth have been used to load that particular page, etc.

People consider it as bloated, yet with all those features (Opera Link, Opera Unite, Opera Turbo, Opera Torrent, Opera Mail, Opera RSS, etc) it is still under 15mb, which some of the other browsers are beginning to exceed with only one main feature.

Opera also now contains Content Blocking, where you can block certain page elements from websites, e.g. ads.

Not to mention that the CTO of Opera is Håkon Wium Lie, one of the inventors of CSS.

Take a look here for a history of Opera's innovations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_of_the_Opera_web_browser
 
This article seems a bit poorly researched:

- The market share numbers are from Net Applications, who claim that Chrome has nearly twice the market share of Opera, despite the fact that Opera reported 45 million users recently, while Google reported only 40 million Chrome users at the same time.

- Net Applications is extremely skewed towards North America. Opera has a higher market share in other parts of the world, such as Europe where it's approaching 10% I think

- Opera is one of the dominant browsers in Eastern Europe, sometimes even #1 above IE in terms of market share

- If Opera understands the market so "poorly", how come it has up to 50% market share in some countries? There's more to the world than the US

- How did Opera manage to double its user base in less than two years if it's doing so poorly? And how did they manage to more than double their desktop revenue several quarters in a row?

- Opera is a smaller download than other browsers, and was recently found to be the browser with the fewest security holes. The UI also doesn't lock up like it does in other browsers

- The author of the article completely misunderstood the purpose of Unite. Unite gives you control over your own data, when you don't want to upload something to other people's sites but send something directly. It also lets you do stuff like collaborative drawing, writing, chatting, and all sorts of stuff

- Chrome is promoted by Google through their online advertising monopoly. Firefox was made by Mozilla which got huge donations from companies like Google and IBM. Safari is bundled with every Mac. Opera is the only truly independent browser, so comparisons are rather far off.

- Opera has only been a free download for 3-4 years or so, so reaching a global market share of 2-4% in these years isn't too bad when you consider that it doesn't have the resources at its disposal as giants like Google, Mozilla and Apple

- Opera is the dominant mobile browser worldwide, with a market share of nearly 30%, well ahead of most other mobile browsers
 
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Linoman said:
Opera less bloated than Chrome:confused:
Click to expand...
Opera is a smaller download than Chrome, and the UI is more responsive... An application which is smaller can't be more bloated than an application which does much less but is still much bigger, surely.

MidnightWizard said:
If they just also put out a bare ones version I would be there today already
Click to expand...
Opera is bare-bones already, isn't it? Those couple of extras like email and such are hidden or disabled if you don't start using it by creating an account. Never gets in the way.
 
Opera

I prefer using opera mini instead.... the application is gr8 for any cellphone doesn't take long to download as well:)
 
prcs said:
- The author of the article completely misunderstood the purpose of Unite. Unite gives you control over your own data, when you don't want to upload something to other people's sites but send something directly. It also lets you do stuff like collaborative drawing, writing, chatting, and all sorts of stuff
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you here. I've only dabbled with Unite, but it seems like the most hassle free way to share your data.

Point opera at the info you want to share, send the link to whomever you want to share, and activate unite.

No waiting for uploads, no potential owernship conflict with host sites, and the ability to halt the share with a simple click.

It also allows you to make your resources safely available to you from anywhere in the world.
 
Yesterday Opera changed for good the way I have battled for years moving bookmarks, emails and contacts between computers while trying to keep them all in synch...

Opera10.10 portable edition (aka Opera1010usb): small freebie download, install it instantly on a flash drive, then either run its browser functions and e-mail straight off the stick, or to make it quicker transfer it to the hard drive of your current machine, run it there, then copy it back to the stick, back to the first machine, and so on ad infinitum. (The freebie Karen's Replicator makes this a one-click job, perfect!)

Result: TOTAL synchronisation on all machines, all browser settings and preferences, all widgets, all e-mails, all contacts, identical and permanently updated no matter how often you switch. Hallelujah and praise be to Opera!
 
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Opera4lyfe.

Easily accessible tab trashcan is a lifesaver. If anything, I would stick with Opera for this feature alone. I can't count how many times I've been using IE or Firefox and wished I had been using Opera because I've closed a tab and realised that I actually still needed it (it keeps back history for the tab as well). And I'm sure someone will pipe up that its in options or there's a plugin for that, but why bother when its easily accessible to start with.

Also, the configurable panel is great. Set it to hide on the left and then throw your mouse to the left and click to access bookmarks, site info, site links, search, history, note keeping, downloads (and chat, widgets, mail if you use them). Click on the left again to hide it and continue on your merry way. Another accessible feature I miss from other browsers.

While Opera Unite has bloated the size of Opera a bit, its still pretty small for all the features it offers. Before Unite, Opera classic install used to be almost half the size of other browser downloads. I think it has already been said here, but most of the features that people complain about as being bloat, are disabled by default and are available if you actually want them (although I think you have to disable BitTorrent explicitly).

Its also find it funny how people (not necessarily from this forum) complain about Opera having all these supposedly useless features, yet they clog up their Firefox install with plugins to mimic them and then have the fun of having to upgrade plugins and deal with compatibility issues when updated versions of FireFox are released.
 
I prefer opera-mini on my cellphone and only because it saves on bandwidth and ram/speed. Built-in browser will have to do for internet banking. Opera on a pc just doesn't appeal to me, I know there are some fancy mouse gestures but it is not standard... if everyone would adopt it... not even then would people jump because the other browsers will have it :P Plus it is in binary only and crashes when you reach 140 tabs :whistle:

Firefox 3.5+ also keeps track of tabs/back tabs if you will
 
I wouldn't exactly call mouse gestures one of Opera's best selling points tbh. I'm not entirely sure what the downside of binary only is. IIRC, a while back the Opera devs asked users of the betas to allow them to gather tab usage stats and they found users with far more than 140 tabs who didn't have an issue :/ I don't like using menus in a browser so having to go into the menus to find a closed tab is a pain when there is a trashcan at the end of the tab bar in Opera.

For people who use FireBug, Opera has Dragonfly, which I've found useful on occasion, but I'm not aware if it is as feature complete as FireBug.
 
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