Out of all the browsers I use, Opera has become my favorite. Used to be that mouse gestures were my favorite feature. Right now I'm in love with the limitless customization of Opera. Sure, it takes some work, but doing it myself is much more secure than downloading some third party plugin or extension.
I also prefer MDI over tabs, as I can now have 6 pages visible (through small screen rendering).
Full Version: favorite feature?
Neowin Forums > Help & Discussion Center > Software Discussion & Assistance > Web Browser Discussion > Opera (Presto)
QUOTE(muaddib2004 @ May 11 2005, 14:34)
Out of all the browsers I use, Opera has become my favorite. Used to be that mouse gestures were my favorite feature. Right now I'm in love with the limitless customization of Opera. Sure, it takes some work, but doing it myself is much more secure than downloading some third party plugin or extension.
I also prefer MDI over tabs, as I can now have 6 pages visible (through small screen rendering).
[right][snapback]585904131[/snapback][/right]
I also prefer MDI over tabs, as I can now have 6 pages visible (through small screen rendering).
[right][snapback]585904131[/snapback][/right]
With version 8, Opera can be personalized to a extreme level of minimalism, yet fully functional, leaving space to the webpage contents. This is, now, my favourite feature. Besides the Start Bar, that is smart and useful.
But what made me fall in love with this browser are the mouse gestures! They simply rule over the Firefox equivalent extension for smoothness.
Middle-click goodness is my favorite feature.
Instant back/forward probably. Rewind/FF is also very cool.
Why i love Opera:
1. Browser's cache. Fastest and customizable. Fastest go back.
2. Fastest rendering. Presto web-engine is great.
3. Fastest browser's launch speed.
4. MDI (Multi Document Interface).
5. Fully customizable graphical interface(buttons, menus, toolbars etc.). Easy and useful.
6. M2 (Opera's mail client).
7. RSS feeder.
8. Mouse gestures. It's can be used with macros commands.
9. Functional keyboard setup. It's can be used with macros commands.
10. Session manager
11. Contacts manager integrated into M2
12. Rendering modes
13. WAP-pages support
.... and many many other features.
1. Browser's cache. Fastest and customizable. Fastest go back.
2. Fastest rendering. Presto web-engine is great.
3. Fastest browser's launch speed.
4. MDI (Multi Document Interface).
5. Fully customizable graphical interface(buttons, menus, toolbars etc.). Easy and useful.
6. M2 (Opera's mail client).
7. RSS feeder.
8. Mouse gestures. It's can be used with macros commands.
9. Functional keyboard setup. It's can be used with macros commands.
10. Session manager
11. Contacts manager integrated into M2
12. Rendering modes
13. WAP-pages support
.... and many many other features.
My favorite feature in Opera is its multi-document interface. Internet Explorer's idea of a multi-document interface is having a taskbar button which contains all 7-or-so windows where you have to do extraneous clicking to get anything done. Internet Explorer really isn't tuned for heavy browsing, it only tries to be by "sweeping things under the rug", I guess you could say.
Firefox's implementation of multi-document browsing is stronger than Internet Explorer's but it is still weak, considering that there is no ability to minimize/maximize/resize individual pages; Firefox has a tabbed viewport and isn't designed for multi-document browsing.
Opera, on the other hand, allows you to work with multiple documents inside a single window and minimize/maximize/resize individual pages. Navigation is extremely effecient: hold the right mouse button and click the left one to go backwards and the opposite for forwards, holding down the right mouse button and scrolling the middle wheel allows you to easily switch between documents (in other words, you don't even need to move your hand in order to navigate all of your favorite sites). Not only that but you can grab a page by it's tab and drag it off of the interface and into it's own window. Nothing currently available beats Opera's multi-document interface.
My next favorite feature is the zooming capabilities; again, nothing beats Opera's implementation. Internet Explorer and Firefox have a hard time getting text to be bigger or smaller. Opera zooms in on pages like they were being brought closer to your face, everything is zoomed. Not to mention how much easier it is to zoom in Opera compared to other browsers. To increase the text size in Internet Explorer you have to stop typing (if you're typing a reply on a forum, for example), grab the mouse, go to View->Text Size->Select and you have to do that again when you're finished zooming. In Firefox you can do the same thing except you can also use Ctrl++ or Ctrl+-, neither which is really easy to do without looking at the keyboard (just look at the position of your hands as you do these, so ackward and hurtful to those with arthritis!), to return back to normal you can use Ctrl+0, which is also very ackward. In Opera you simply press + or - and it will zoom in and out and pressing * will make it go back to normal, simple! Why does Internet Explorer remove keyboard shortcuts (an accessibility feature) for accessing their zoom (another accessibility feature)? Why does Firefox require the control key to be held down, what else am I going to use the + or - keys for in an uneditable part of the browser/page? Opera's implementation of zooming is the only one which makes sense from a user-perspective and its functionality completely destroys the offerings from the competitors.
I could keep going, but I think those are enough
Firefox's implementation of multi-document browsing is stronger than Internet Explorer's but it is still weak, considering that there is no ability to minimize/maximize/resize individual pages; Firefox has a tabbed viewport and isn't designed for multi-document browsing.
Opera, on the other hand, allows you to work with multiple documents inside a single window and minimize/maximize/resize individual pages. Navigation is extremely effecient: hold the right mouse button and click the left one to go backwards and the opposite for forwards, holding down the right mouse button and scrolling the middle wheel allows you to easily switch between documents (in other words, you don't even need to move your hand in order to navigate all of your favorite sites). Not only that but you can grab a page by it's tab and drag it off of the interface and into it's own window. Nothing currently available beats Opera's multi-document interface.
My next favorite feature is the zooming capabilities; again, nothing beats Opera's implementation. Internet Explorer and Firefox have a hard time getting text to be bigger or smaller. Opera zooms in on pages like they were being brought closer to your face, everything is zoomed. Not to mention how much easier it is to zoom in Opera compared to other browsers. To increase the text size in Internet Explorer you have to stop typing (if you're typing a reply on a forum, for example), grab the mouse, go to View->Text Size->Select and you have to do that again when you're finished zooming. In Firefox you can do the same thing except you can also use Ctrl++ or Ctrl+-, neither which is really easy to do without looking at the keyboard (just look at the position of your hands as you do these, so ackward and hurtful to those with arthritis!), to return back to normal you can use Ctrl+0, which is also very ackward. In Opera you simply press + or - and it will zoom in and out and pressing * will make it go back to normal, simple! Why does Internet Explorer remove keyboard shortcuts (an accessibility feature) for accessing their zoom (another accessibility feature)? Why does Firefox require the control key to be held down, what else am I going to use the + or - keys for in an uneditable part of the browser/page? Opera's implementation of zooming is the only one which makes sense from a user-perspective and its functionality completely destroys the offerings from the competitors.
I could keep going, but I think those are enough
QUOTE(megamanXplosion @ May 11 2005, 23:55)
Opera, on the other hand, allows you to work with multiple documents inside a single window and minimize/maximize/resize individual pages. Navigation is extremely effecient: hold the right mouse button and click the left one to go backwards and the opposite for forwards, holding down the right mouse button and scrolling the middle wheel allows you to easily switch between documents (in other words, you don't even need to move your hand in order to navigate all of your favorite sites). Not only that but you can grab a page by it's tab and drag it off of the interface and into it's own window. Nothing currently available beats Opera's multi-document interface.
[right][snapback]585904776[/snapback][/right]
[right][snapback]585904776[/snapback][/right]
You said it man. All people who like firefox for tabbedbrowsing must read that.
The MDI does deserve creedence, as does the instant forward/rewind.
Though my favourite feature is CTRL-Z, open last closed window.
Holy crap, I never knew that. That's going to be so useful!
Though my favourite feature is CTRL-Z, open last closed window.
QUOTE
holding down the right mouse button and scrolling the middle wheel allows you to easily switch between documents
Holy crap, I never knew that. That's going to be so useful!
QUOTE(megamanXplosion @ May 11 2005, 16:55)
My favorite feature in Opera is its multi-document interface. Internet Explorer's idea of a multi-document interface is having a taskbar button which contains all 7-or-so windows where you have to do extraneous clicking to get anything done. Internet Explorer really isn't tuned for heavy browsing, it only tries to be by "sweeping things under the rug", I guess you could say.
Firefox's implementation of multi-document browsing is stronger than Internet Explorer's but it is still weak, considering that there is no ability to minimize/maximize/resize individual pages; Firefox has a tabbed viewport and isn't designed for multi-document browsing.
Opera, on the other hand, allows you to work with multiple documents inside a single window and minimize/maximize/resize individual pages. Navigation is extremely effecient: hold the right mouse button and click the left one to go backwards and the opposite for forwards, holding down the right mouse button and scrolling the middle wheel allows you to easily switch between documents (in other words, you don't even need to move your hand in order to navigate all of your favorite sites). Not only that but you can grab a page by it's tab and drag it off of the interface and into it's own window. Nothing currently available beats Opera's multi-document interface.
My next favorite feature is the zooming capabilities; again, nothing beats Opera's implementation. Internet Explorer and Firefox have a hard time getting text to be bigger or smaller. Opera zooms in on pages like they were being brought closer to your face, everything is zoomed. Not to mention how much easier it is to zoom in Opera compared to other browsers. To increase the text size in Internet Explorer you have to stop typing (if you're typing a reply on a forum, for example), grab the mouse, go to View->Text Size->Select and you have to do that again when you're finished zooming. In Firefox you can do the same thing except you can also use Ctrl++ or Ctrl+-, neither which is really easy to do without looking at the keyboard (just look at the position of your hands as you do these, so ackward and hurtful to those with arthritis!), to return back to normal you can use Ctrl+0, which is also very ackward. In Opera you simply press + or - and it will zoom in and out and pressing * will make it go back to normal, simple! Why does Internet Explorer remove keyboard shortcuts (an accessibility feature) for accessing their zoom (another accessibility feature)? Why does Firefox require the control key to be held down, what else am I going to use the + or - keys for in an uneditable part of the browser/page? Opera's implementation of zooming is the only one which makes sense from a user-perspective and its functionality completely destroys the offerings from the competitors.
I could keep going, but I think those are enough
[right][snapback]585904776[/snapback][/right]
Firefox's implementation of multi-document browsing is stronger than Internet Explorer's but it is still weak, considering that there is no ability to minimize/maximize/resize individual pages; Firefox has a tabbed viewport and isn't designed for multi-document browsing.
Opera, on the other hand, allows you to work with multiple documents inside a single window and minimize/maximize/resize individual pages. Navigation is extremely effecient: hold the right mouse button and click the left one to go backwards and the opposite for forwards, holding down the right mouse button and scrolling the middle wheel allows you to easily switch between documents (in other words, you don't even need to move your hand in order to navigate all of your favorite sites). Not only that but you can grab a page by it's tab and drag it off of the interface and into it's own window. Nothing currently available beats Opera's multi-document interface.
My next favorite feature is the zooming capabilities; again, nothing beats Opera's implementation. Internet Explorer and Firefox have a hard time getting text to be bigger or smaller. Opera zooms in on pages like they were being brought closer to your face, everything is zoomed. Not to mention how much easier it is to zoom in Opera compared to other browsers. To increase the text size in Internet Explorer you have to stop typing (if you're typing a reply on a forum, for example), grab the mouse, go to View->Text Size->Select and you have to do that again when you're finished zooming. In Firefox you can do the same thing except you can also use Ctrl++ or Ctrl+-, neither which is really easy to do without looking at the keyboard (just look at the position of your hands as you do these, so ackward and hurtful to those with arthritis!), to return back to normal you can use Ctrl+0, which is also very ackward. In Opera you simply press + or - and it will zoom in and out and pressing * will make it go back to normal, simple! Why does Internet Explorer remove keyboard shortcuts (an accessibility feature) for accessing their zoom (another accessibility feature)? Why does Firefox require the control key to be held down, what else am I going to use the + or - keys for in an uneditable part of the browser/page? Opera's implementation of zooming is the only one which makes sense from a user-perspective and its functionality completely destroys the offerings from the competitors.
I could keep going, but I think those are enough
[right][snapback]585904776[/snapback][/right]
wow....please DO go on....I think you just made me switch to Opera...(again)...the right click and scrow wheel thing is sooooo crazy...the first time I did it I was like...
wow...
Please..do go on...I must hear more of these very very intersting features...
--edit--
Ok...now I'm deadly intersted...how do you do mouse gestures?...
, and what is the function of forward and rewind?
compared to other browser Opera has some features that no other browser has.
at least... which works just as nice
• the session saving, with saving configuration and history of each page is simply the best out there.
• the zooming function of Opera has no competitors. it zooms like the page is a picture.
• MDI. i don't want to call it tabbed browsing. it's more like a taskbar inside opera just for your internet stuff.
• the Wand! when i really started using Opera when version 6 was released, i thought this feature was obsolete. now i can't live without it. it's way cool when you have multiple accounts for certain pages.
• the start bar. just like the wand, i really hated it at first. now i think it is amazing
it saves so much space. eg.. you can place all your find/google boxes inside it, and they'll only popup when you want to use them.
at least... which works just as nice
• the session saving, with saving configuration and history of each page is simply the best out there.
• the zooming function of Opera has no competitors. it zooms like the page is a picture.
• MDI. i don't want to call it tabbed browsing. it's more like a taskbar inside opera just for your internet stuff.
• the Wand! when i really started using Opera when version 6 was released, i thought this feature was obsolete. now i can't live without it. it's way cool when you have multiple accounts for certain pages.
• the start bar. just like the wand, i really hated it at first. now i think it is amazing
it saves so much space. eg.. you can place all your find/google boxes inside it, and they'll only popup when you want to use them.
I thought those little mouse navigation tricks were well-known, glad you guys like them. I love Opera's highly-usable interface; combining Windows shortcuts like Alt+Tab to switch between open windows, the ability to drag pages off the tab bar into their own window, and the page-switching mouse trick will allow for good organization of sites. For example, you can have your favorite message boards in one window, your favorite computer hardware sites in another window, and gaming sites in the third window, then use Alt+Tab to switch between windows and use the middle mouse wheel to select sites in that particular window; think of it like the windows are folders which contain pages relevant to a particular subject, all which can be organized and navigated very effeciently.
As for using mouse gestures, I can't really help you there. They are definately cool and effecient to use, I simply don't use them because I suffer from the "random clicking syndrome" and if I move the mouse without thinking then I'd perform an action I didn't intend on performing. Others find them enjoyable, some don't, try them and see if you like them. I'm fairly confident that everything you could want to know about mouse gestures can be found through the Help menu.
Another feature that I like is the ability to take notes. You can use this as a project manager, research tool, a searchable database of information, and they can even act as powerful bookmarks. If you highlight text on a web page and copy it to a note then a note is created as a bookmark note (for lack of a better term), double-clicking on a bookmark note results in loading up the page where you copied the text from. Once you have built up an assortment of notes, make use the searching capabilities! Copy all of your favorite game cheat codes, research materials, tasks, etc. into notes and then you can use the search capabilities for an extremely fast way to find information. Take all of this functionality into account and then think about how you can drag tabs off the interface and into a new window, you can have the Notes panel act as it's own Notes application.
There is just so much about Opera's integration of features that I like. Other interfaces just aren't put together nearly as well. Opera has always been the little guy and has always had to work twice as hard as the other browser development companies, and I think that going over the interface thoroughly proves it. Other browsers seem to be constructued under a "just works" basis while Opera's approach is "work more effeciently."
As for using mouse gestures, I can't really help you there. They are definately cool and effecient to use, I simply don't use them because I suffer from the "random clicking syndrome" and if I move the mouse without thinking then I'd perform an action I didn't intend on performing. Others find them enjoyable, some don't, try them and see if you like them. I'm fairly confident that everything you could want to know about mouse gestures can be found through the Help menu.
Another feature that I like is the ability to take notes. You can use this as a project manager, research tool, a searchable database of information, and they can even act as powerful bookmarks. If you highlight text on a web page and copy it to a note then a note is created as a bookmark note (for lack of a better term), double-clicking on a bookmark note results in loading up the page where you copied the text from. Once you have built up an assortment of notes, make use the searching capabilities! Copy all of your favorite game cheat codes, research materials, tasks, etc. into notes and then you can use the search capabilities for an extremely fast way to find information. Take all of this functionality into account and then think about how you can drag tabs off the interface and into a new window, you can have the Notes panel act as it's own Notes application.
There is just so much about Opera's integration of features that I like. Other interfaces just aren't put together nearly as well. Opera has always been the little guy and has always had to work twice as hard as the other browser development companies, and I think that going over the interface thoroughly proves it. Other browsers seem to be constructued under a "just works" basis while Opera's approach is "work more effeciently."
There is simply too many cool features to list one as a favorite.
I forgot about the start bar. I love it. I keep all my main sites (neowin included) on it as buttons, and it saves so much space. No FF extension for that one.
Being able to customize the gestures essentially however you want is great. I have a gesture for Left->Right to Show/Hide Mail Panel since I use m2.
M2 is great as well. It's filtering is awesome and very powerful.
Being able to double/triple/quad click text on a page and having a context menu come up with stuff like translate, copy, speak, search, is really useful.
Aliases for bookmarks is great.
Ctrl+Alt+V as the def shortcut to validate a page is convenient.
User Javascript!!!! Probably the most innovative/best browser feature since tabs became popular. The fact that FF and Opera came out with it at about the same time just shows what a great move it was.
Appearance dialog is very well done. Customizing the interface is so easy.
ERA. Extensible Rendering Architecture. Go look it up. No other browser can come even CLOSE to this.
Paste & Go.
The way it loads up a previous page in your history where you left off (part of instant back/forward), which includes form data, scroll position, etc.
Reload from cache. Being able to view the source of a page, modify it, and reload it from cache to see the changes instantly.
Smooth image resizing. I can't find it in preferences right now, but Opera has the ability to resize images smoothly if they are scaled (either through zooming or setting width/height in html), which no other browser I've seen has done.
Spatial Navigation. I haven't used it much, but it is useful when I do.
Much much more.
I forgot about the start bar. I love it. I keep all my main sites (neowin included) on it as buttons, and it saves so much space. No FF extension for that one.
Being able to customize the gestures essentially however you want is great. I have a gesture for Left->Right to Show/Hide Mail Panel since I use m2.
M2 is great as well. It's filtering is awesome and very powerful.
Being able to double/triple/quad click text on a page and having a context menu come up with stuff like translate, copy, speak, search, is really useful.
Aliases for bookmarks is great.
Ctrl+Alt+V as the def shortcut to validate a page is convenient.
User Javascript!!!! Probably the most innovative/best browser feature since tabs became popular. The fact that FF and Opera came out with it at about the same time just shows what a great move it was.
Appearance dialog is very well done. Customizing the interface is so easy.
ERA. Extensible Rendering Architecture. Go look it up. No other browser can come even CLOSE to this.
Paste & Go.
The way it loads up a previous page in your history where you left off (part of instant back/forward), which includes form data, scroll position, etc.
Reload from cache. Being able to view the source of a page, modify it, and reload it from cache to see the changes instantly.
Smooth image resizing. I can't find it in preferences right now, but Opera has the ability to resize images smoothly if they are scaled (either through zooming or setting width/height in html), which no other browser I've seen has done.
Spatial Navigation. I haven't used it much, but it is useful when I do.
Much much more.
i know this is a cop-out, but Opera just rules at everything......for me that is.
mainly i would say speed, limitless custom-ability and it just makes my trip through the web much more enjoyable than any browser that i've ever used.
Opera=Simply the best Internet experience ever!
mainly i would say speed, limitless custom-ability and it just makes my trip through the web much more enjoyable than any browser that i've ever used.
Opera=Simply the best Internet experience ever!
Another feature I only learnt today: CTRL+Click an image to save it.
I've been using Opera for ages - and I'm still finding new things to make the experience better
Gestures, MDI and just the overall experience make Opera the best browser available (for me anyhow).
Gestures, MDI and just the overall experience make Opera the best browser available (for me anyhow).
QUOTE(Chode @ May 12 2005, 11:57)
Another feature I only learnt today: CTRL+Click an image to save it.
[right][snapback]585908419[/snapback][/right]
[right][snapback]585908419[/snapback][/right]
cheers for that mate!....
ok...quick question...now I have this little problem with the tabs that is....annoying but I can live with...basically, this is how it goes...
in firefox when we have let's save 5 tabs open:
Neowin|Neowin Thread 1|Neowin Thread 2|Neowin Thread 3|Neowin Thread 4|
when I close Neowin Thread 4 Tab, obviously enough, it goes to Neowin Thread 3 tab, but for some reason for opera, when I let's say lost Neowin Thread 4 Tab, it flys back to the Neowin page (first tab) instead of the Neowin Thread 3 tab...
why is that?...and how do i change it?
Thanks
Under preferences - browsing - 'cycle in page bar order'.
QUOTE(vespesian @ May 13 2005, 02:08)
Under preferences - browsing - 'cycle in page bar order'.
[right][snapback]585911523[/snapback][/right]
[right][snapback]585911523[/snapback][/right]
already got that...same problem...
It goes to the last active tab you viewed
probably the mouse gestures. (right click and left or right movement for back and forward pages)
and the wand is good
and the wand is good
Don't think of what you have as tabs, it's MDI (Multiple Document Interface). Basically, it works just like windows' taskbar. But these days Opera has hidden MDI away and has gone to tabs to not scare off any FF or IE shell users.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.