Verbose. Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 (edited) Introduction: Opera is very similar to the popular Firefox, a tabbed browser with a wide variety of skins at your fingertips. Opera is opensource in that it allows you to tweak the INI files, the genetic code, so to speak, of Opera. There are various sites dedicated to just this. There are numerous advantages to using Opera: One of the key features I find in Opera is the ability to ID as either default, Mozilla 5.0 (4.78, 3.0) or MSIE 6.0 . This is efective when viewing pages otherwise viewable in a browser other than Opera. It also has the ability to accept, refuse, open popup windows in background or open requested pop-up windows only, as many of the tabbed browsers do now. You will also be able to create new sessions which is essentially a file (.win extension) that serves to store the parameters, urls and number of windows open. While you're closing Opera it will save the session as autosave.win which you will be able to manipulate by either editing the file or, obviously, opening or closing tabs. You can create as many sessions as you want, that I know of, which you will be able to select in the startup window before Opera launches. You have the option of disabling this window in Preferences or by selecting the check mark on the startup window as it's really not necessary unless you create another session. It is also possible to associate a search engine with a letter which you will type into the address bar followed by the search string. Another useful feature, specifically for 56K users, is the ability to Show images, cached images only or no images. This is beneficial when you merely want to load a page to pick out a minute detail and would rather not wait for the images to load. You will also be able to switch between Author and User modes. Author mode will further decrease the amount of loadtime and will display the page in stripped HTML, without formatting. The page icons options are Embedding icons only/[minus only] with favicons. Other preferences include GIF animation, Smooth zooming of images, Draw images instantly, Enable sound in Web pages, plug-ins and JavaScript. You will have access to available file types and protocols handled by Opera in which you will be able to associate with Opera - HTML, http and https are defaults. Disk cache ranges from 'Off' - '400 MB'. Typed in addresses range from 0 - 500 and visited addresses from 0 - 10,000. Yet another ingenious feature embedded into Opera is the power to Manage Wand passwords. There's a list of folders alphabetized by site url which expands into a list of pages associated with stored passwords, all manageable. Every page you save your username and password to you only need to use the keystroke Ctrl+Enter to input it into the textbox and login. Modified toolbars are also at your disposable, allowing you to hack the toolbar without opening the appropriate INI files. Finally, although most significant, the Hotlist. The Hotlist can be situated to the Left, Right, Floating or Off and includes History, Transfers, Mail, Bookmarks, Contacts, Links, Windows and Notes. Freshmeat.net || test via Stopwatch (56k) Opera 7.22 b3221 (uncached) : 34.460 -- 06.199 (cached) -- 06.850 (no images) Firefox 0.8 (uncached) : 19.869 -- 14.350 (cached) IE (uncached) : 20.730 -- 15.702 (cached) Test conclusion: If you are an avid browser, visit a page just once and very rarely clear the cache you should consider using Opera. Pros: Seamless interface, opensource, simple password memory, popup ad filters. Cons: Pay to remove ads. Edited July 6, 2004 by Verbose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuka_t Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 welcome to two months ago. 7.51 is out now, besides, firefox pwnz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbose. Posted July 6, 2004 Author Share Posted July 6, 2004 Yes, I'm aware of this nuka_t. This review I wrote for Geeknewz quite some time ago and have been using Firefox for the last 3 weeks or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 3.415 secs with FireFox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbose. Posted July 6, 2004 Author Share Posted July 6, 2004 3.415 secs with FireFox. I'm a 56k user. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuka_t Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Yes, I'm aware of this nuka_t. This review I wrote for Geeknewz quite some time ago and have been using Firefox for the last 3 weeks or so. aah. gotcha. however, i dont think that that pageloading test is right. opera and ffox are the same speed after pipelining is enabled. IE is just slow. im not going to say that opera is a bad browser, but i dont like paying money and i dont like feeling like a warez monkey either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoochieMamma Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 I'm a 56k user. :no: :no: :( :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuka_t Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 oh, and i just got 4:58 on IE. havent tested firefox yet. i will when i get back home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoochieMamma Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 I never thought I would see the day but I actually LOVE FireFox!! I just got the silver Luna theme to go with my XP look and I cant be more happier :D :D. And YES people it does render pages faster than IE :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamthief Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Yahoo.com (broadband) Firefox 0.9.1 2:16 (cached) 2.20 (uncached) IE6 3:75 (cached) 4.25 (uncached) Opera 7.51 3.60 (cached) 4.40 (uncached) Yikksss... maybe i should dump opera for good... :p nahh.. This so called tests are unconclusive. And all the browsers you reviewed are outdated.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuka_t Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 ^except for IE. although its an outdated browser, its at its most current version. Edit: try a site other than yahoo.^. i think yahoo dosent render right in firefox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbose. Posted July 6, 2004 Author Share Posted July 6, 2004 Maybe a moderator should close this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamthief Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Maybe a moderator should close this thread. LOL.. i second that... this kind of thread only leads to flame wars... :devil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islanq Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 I'm a 56k user. I'm sorry verbose, ditch the dial up man! :no: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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