An old friend returns...and is INCREDIBLE!!!

[kelldammit]

A long time ago, i used a browser called Opera on the BeOS. it worked well, but i never used it on windows due to it being either free with ads, or a pay-for...
that's changed. and now, holy cow...it's amazing! all of the security features and per-site/workspace capabilities of omniweb, tabbed browsing, pop mail, irc, newsgroups, rss, built-in bit torrent, etc etc etc. it also automatically uses contacts from apple's address book!
http://www.opera.com/download
version 9.01 is working GREAT here on the macbook...

kell

[Frodo]

i tried Opera for a minute and liked it. For whatever reason, it didn't stay in my Dock-- required numerous reinstalls. But maybe now it's come into its own once again.

Thanks for the reminder!

[mhschmieder]

I stopped using it with version 7 due to all the incompatibility issues. For awhile I used another browser whose name I now forget, and which caused me no end of problems. Finally last year, we switched everyone to Firefox, and for awhile I loved it.

Then I made the mistake of trying to get more sophisticated with it by installing plug-ins. I was embarassed as a software engineer to not be making more sophisticated use of browser tools. I paid the price for my curiosity, and have had no end of problems since then.

Now we are thinking of switching to Opera 9, and I will probably download it soon. It has enough basic featured to not need plug-ins, and thus doesn't have the compatibility issues and the danger of all the Firefox plug-ins.

Apparantly the ad-free version is now free vs. $30, and Opera 9 has passed the W3C's compatitibility and standards tests better than any other current browser.

I am speaking entirely of Windows, which is what I use at work. I have no idea what the situation is on the Mac at this point. I follow the trade press and stay alert, but so far have not been convinced to switch away from Safari. I used Opera for awhile on the Mac four years ago and it was a disaster -- as was Mozilla when I last tried Camino.

[soundperspectives]

Every once in awhile I have to deal with Goverment websites that require the use of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Opera Spoofs it or fools the Server into thinking that I am using Internet Explorer.

[kelldammit]

i've run into a little odd behavior, particularly with say...weather.com, and watching video. quicktime behaves okay, but flip4mac (mwv) and realplayer seem to work best when opera is masked as mozilla. it's one of the little gotcha's about using one of the "little guys"...a lot of websites simply aren't aware of it as a browser.
cookie handling is also a little weird on some sites...they require you to enable all cookies (typically i have it set to only accept cookies from the current site)...which i dislike quite a bit...even if you do so on the per-site level, sometimes it just doesn't fly, and you have to do it globally. this i never had issue with with omniweb or firefox. i really love omniweb, it just gets pretty far behind the curve...and is a little frustrating. by the time they've updated for the new apple webkits, another has come along...
the ub is STILL in beta (granted, it works pretty well).
i like safari and firefox, but there are no "workspaces" or per-site prefs, and i really prefer a preview of the pages in the tabs. the real leverage that opera has over omniweb for me at this point is standards compliance...though there are other little things i like, but could live without. i was just really surprised at how much opera's changed since i'd last used it. i like that it's cross-platform too. i'll have to give it a go on my windows machine at work.

kell

[emulatorloo]

websites that require the use of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Opera Spoofs it or fools the Server into thinking that I am using Internet Explorer.

Safari does that too -- Debug menu: User Agent: Windows MSIE 6.0

Then those stupid websites that "require" MSIE are fooled and happy.

You may need to turn on the debug menu -- either w the terminal app or with a shareware app like "Safari Helper"