Opera 11 is better than the latest Chrome and Firefox Nightlies


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polyarchist great post, you should express yourself more often. I disagree with your opinion of Opera although I run it from time to time to check on it's improvements. Although not important I will add I use chromium as my default browser agree with most of you on what it lacks and where it excels and my hopes are for a similar browser (such as chrome/chromium) that hasn't been developed by Google perhaps a Neowin browser?

Hello everybody, I've been reading this forum for a long time and decided to finally post something I felt was lacking in this subforum.

I've been using Firefox since before it was called Firefox, and I've switched to Chrome last year but recently I've been using Opera 11 and its become my default browser.

Why Firefox is lacking: The interface is terribly slow compared to the other 2 browsers, Gecko is notorious for being very slow due to the sheer amount of code, and even the Minefield nightlies continue to lag behind even Chrome and Opera stable versions in terms of compliance and speed. While it may have the biggest amount of extensions, it is only this fact that is keeping people in the Firefox world. Once extensions development approaches the comprehensiveness of Firefox's ecosystem, I see many users going to Chrome instead of Firefox. In other words, unless Mozilla can rewrite Firefox from scratch, I don't see how it can possibly compete with the Webkit browsers alone and I can see Chrome being the #2 browser for Windows by 2014 or so.

Why Chrome is lacking: Despite its massive gains over Firefox in terms of speed, compliance and UI responsiveness, it still has a lot of basic issues to deal with that continue to be ignored by Google: Why can't I manage the cache? Why can't I delete my history upon exiting the browser. I would say that that has a lot of to do with the spying that Chrome does with your browsing sessions. It can't create a profile of your browsing habits efficiently if you keep clearing out your history, as many people would choose to do. Also, the download manager is terrible and copy and paste functions continue to be extremely buggy on many website. Why does it have to save every torrent file I open? Why does it have to open the download bar when I right click save an image? All these things should have been fixed by now, but they aren't, because Google is too busy on only 2 things: 1) Performance 2) Finding new ways to mine your data, such as their sync, cloud print, and DNS options. While Chrome is faster than Firefox in many ways, it is not as good a browser in terms of features and privacy options, simply because Google is an advertising company, and the more control you have over your browser, the less of your data it can keep. There's a reason why there's an 11 page thread on this forum called "Things you hate about Chrome", you know!

Why Opera is best: Recent benchmarks show that Opera is similar to Chrome in terms of speed, and the interface is just as responsive while still using less memory than Chrome (but still more memory than Firefox) Best of all, Opera 11 now has extensions that are very similar to Chrome and every Chrome extension can be easily ported to Opera. Through these open standards, it is easier than ever to write an extension for a browser. With Opera, you get all the strengths of both Firefox and Chrome: You get Chrome's speed and Firefox's featureset, with even more built-in, like native content blocking, email, IRC, etc. You even get built-in Greasemonkey script support! There is really no reason to use either Chrome or Firefox when Opera simply combines the two in a lightweight installation.

Try Opera 11 when it becomes stable this month, guys, and get all the benefits of Chrome while not sacrificing even the basic browser that Firefox provides, and start from scratch with its new extension support.

IE9 is better than all :p :D

:rofl:

No, they don't the only cookies that they track are their own. And that other data, bookmarks ETC are only stored if you decide to use the sync options built into Chrome... it's completely optional in case you hadn't realised.

LOL You seriously need to educate yourself on web tracking. The sheer lack of knowledge about the subject is blowing my mind.

http://samy.pl/evercookie/ - evercookie is a javascript API available that produces extremely persistent cookies in a browser. Its goal is to identify a client even after they've removed standard cookies, Flash cookies (Local Shared Objects or LSOs), and others.

http://www.networkadvertising.org/ - Notice why Google is in that list?

Here's something about FTC and IE9: http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/2445-Internet-Explorer-9-to-Include-Tracking-Protection-Content-Blocking

I don't just trust Google, I keep data on Facebook as well FYI. The simple point of the matter is that there are data protection laws in place, to protect people and if corporations misappropriate your data, they can be legislated against.
Right and did you open the ports on your computer? You so conveniently ignored that part of my post. Why don't you open your computer to the web and publish everything? You trust Google. You trust Facebook. Why don't you trust everyone else? Don't the data protection laws apply to everyone else too? Just because someone says they adhere to data protection laws, doesn't mean "they do". The simple fact that everyone fails to understand is that, there are rules, but nobody *has to* obey them.

And how much money did you blow with all that tin foil on your head? ;)

Google can have data; like others said, it's mainly to give us relevant ads designed for you personally. It's perfectly alright in my books... we all trust Facebook still, even with all their privacy flaws (the ones that are still going on, yet Google fixes theirs if people start to whine.)... so what is the big deal? So the browser knows your location? Who cares. So it knows that you watch porn cause you have no life... Who cares?! If it's not Google, it's going to be someone else. Deal with it, remove the tin foil hat, the Y2K scare is over, and we're not going to all die on 12/21/2012. KthnxBAI.

Why? Do you have a tin foil hat business? Sounds like you're good at wearing it and selling it.

Just because you are alright with getting tracked, doesn't mean everyone else is. Whether there is something to hide or not is irrelevant. Stop spreading your stupid religion.

You have completely ignored my post and I will not respond to your ignorant replies.

So i went back to the default theme, and flash is working perfect. Only sad thing is is that the themes i was using looked much better.

Does anyone know of a way to fix themes so that they work fine with flash?

also does anyone have a problem with this beta where it'll just show a blank page and never/or slowly load the site?

Not sure about how to get themes to work with flash sorry.

However, depending on which beta you were using, there was one that had troubles with https. It has since been fixed. That was the only time I was getting blank pages. Which sites were they?

Opera does have troubles with some sites/pages. But they do fix some of them if you post it on their blog. http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/

So those who keep saying Google is spying you blah blah blah craps.....

Get another excuse please... The only thing you all can say bad about Google product is just this lame old excuse.

Do Google look like they care about what porn websites you visit?

Do Google care about where are you right now?

Ask yourself.. Do Google even know you exist in the world?

Its like OMG I cannot allow others know where I visit? OMG Google will send advertisements to my doorstep?!

Like who really cares about you? The police have all the informations about you. Whats your name? Where you live? When is your birthday? So you might want to call the police a spy because you just love to hide yourself from the world like you are some terrorists or wanted criminals.

tanjiajun, you make it sound like Google is some kind of entity beyond humanity. That, or you're drowning in self-proclaimed importance.

They have their reasons to track ones online life, and one has his own reasons to avoid it from happening. I don't think they'll unleash their Death Star anytime soon, they are probably just using the data for targeted advertisement, but if you don't want to contribute to that - you avoid using Chrome (and Google ads etc).

Now, dry your tears. There are choices and there is individuality, live with it.

Well 11 final was released, so I gave it another go. If you're an Opera fan it looks pretty good. Javascript speed is excellent, some of the new features are pretty nice as well (I like the tab stacking). But still no hardware acceleration, HTML5 support is poor, and extensions are still pretty flakey. Overall if I could live without my usual arsenal of extensions I'd probably give it serious consideration.. maybe once it's been out for a while and their extension library has grown (and gotten all the kinks worked out) I'll probably give it another spin.

Get another excuse please... The only thing you all can say bad about Google product is just this lame old excuse.

Do Google look like they care about what porn websites you visit?

Do Google care about where are you right now?

Ask yourself.. Do Google even know you exist in the world?

no it doesn't... and google adsense is nothing more than a charity fund.

I'm treating Opera right now how I treated Chrome for a while.

Long time FF user, Chrome came out with extensions, I waited until Chrome's extension library was large enough, then tried Chrome full time. It convinced me to switch.

Once Opera's library grows, I'll give it a shot.

no it doesn't... and google adsense is nothing more than a charity fund.

Oh so you prefer to see viagra ads then ads that is more related to you? And also stop trying to act stupid, like as if you all really scare google is spying you.

But still no hardware acceleration

So? Opera's software rendering is faster at somet hings than hardware accelerated rendering in other browsers.

HTML5 support is poor

This is simply false. You are probably basing this on some lame "test" like html5test.com that tests only a tiny part of HTML5, and also throws in a bunch of things that aren't even HTML5, and finally assigns scores completely randomly to different things.

The only cool thing about Opera is the scrolling, the rest is bloated and very bad organised.

I beg to differ. Opera is the only browser with the ability to handle hundreds of tabs, and not lock up all the time, or lag to hell and back. Also, the size of Opera 11 has been reduced by 30% or so compared to Opera 10. The other browsers are bloated compared to Opera now!

Tried the betas, wasn't impressed but downloaded the final and gave it another go, unfortunately still not impressed. Rendering problems on the Opera forums, crashed installing a skin from Opera's community site. That was enough for me, uninstalled, and will stick the Chrome and IE with Chrome currently being my browser of choice.

People worried about Google spying on your search habits just install the Disconnect extension, written by an ex Google employee.

So? Opera's software rendering is faster at somet hings than hardware accelerated rendering in other browsers.

Never said it was slow, and I do concede that it pretty quick, but at least on my system Firefox 3 tends to do rendering and scrolling a lot smoother,and the FF4 Minefield builds fly past Opera. This is "regular" browsing, not the new stuff that Opera just can't do yet.. IE9's fishtank demo or the 3D stuff for example is an unfair comparison and won't say "Opera sucks" because of that. Credit where it's due, Opera's javascript clocked in a tick faster, not dramatic but it's there.

This is simply false. You are probably basing this on some lame "test" like html5test.com that tests only a tiny part of HTML5, and also throws in a bunch of things that aren't even HTML5, and finally assigns scores completely randomly to different things.

One of a few sites I've tried. Also tried "real world" HTML5 usage, and have also tested with some development tools. I stand by what I said, it's not great. Yet.. they're pretty good at standards.

I beg to differ. Opera is the only browser with the ability to handle hundreds of tabs, and not lock up all the time, or lag to hell and back. Also, the size of Opera 11 has been reduced by 30% or so compared to Opera 10. The other browsers are bloated compared to Opera now!

No comment there, I've never, ever had a reason to have hundreds of tabs open. That's just crazy. But I do agree that it's memory footprint is decent. Better than Chrome anyway. Personally, like I said earlier, overall I like it, if they can get their extensions worked out I'll give it another go. The few that I tried failed miserably or just wouldn't even run, but since this is brand new for Opera, it's to be expected. Right now it's a buggy mess though.

Speaking of Chrome, if you have issues with Google, can just use Chromium instead too. Same browser sans the Google stuff. I for one get irked by any application that assumes it's totally ok to have yet another random background updater service running 24/7 without even asking first. ChromeOS, sure, but for a browser it has no business whatsoever being a service.

Oh so you prefer to see viagra ads then ads that is more related to you? And also stop trying to act stupid, like as if you all really scare google is spying you.

no i'm not. But this doesn't mean google is not tracking your searches and your navigation, because it does so. this may bother you or not. and you can use chrome, or not.

The only cool thing about Opera is the scrolling, the rest is bloated and very bad organised.

I am using or at least trying to use Opera 11 and although I don't have problems with rendering, the UI gets on my nerve. I don't want to waste time customizing it to do some basic things that are standard across all browsers (Ctrl + left click) and I don't like the way the tabs work OOTB. I am all for customization options but the OOTB Opera is just stupid and I don't have enough time to fix it on every goddamn system I use it.

To be fair, Chrome has one quirk with Ctrl + Enter where it doesn't complete URL as expected but is much lesser annoyance than "Ctrl + left click to open new tab" that Opera doesn't do.

OOTB Opera is just stupid

Everything is going to seem "stupid" if you refuse to be open to new ways of doing things. You might as well stick with your current browser.

One of a few sites I've tried. Also tried "real world" HTML5 usage, and have also tested with some development tools. I stand by what I said, it's not great.

I'm guessing you've been looking at sites using vendor prefixes for CSS, and you are confusing that and HTML5.

I've never, ever had a reason to have hundreds of tabs open. That's just crazy.

No, what's crazy is being so egotistical as to think that your way of working represents everyone else.

Everything is going to seem "stupid" if you refuse to be open to new ways of doing things. You might as well stick with your current browser.

Believe me, I am all for changing for the better. But if Ctrl + Click works just like Click - then that is STUPID ( I don't have Opera handy to what exactly it does, but last time I tried that in Google Reader and it opened the link in the same window).

I'm guessing you've been looking at sites using vendor prefixes for CSS, and you are confusing that and HTML5.

No, I do this for a living, I know what the difference between a style sheet and HTML is. Stop guessing and making assumptions.

No, what's crazy is being so egotistical as to think that your way of working represents everyone else.

Whoa.. when did I say that my thoughts represent everyone else? Although I still can't for the life of me see anyone having hundreds (your words) of tabs open. memory usage aside that's just beyond impractical. 1) You'll notice that I (several times) commented that what I was saying was in my own experience, as I genuinely and honestly couldn't give a rats ass what anyone else is using, and 2) Stop being so defensive, nobody attacked your comments, so don't start being a self-absorbed ass. You'll notice I even credited Opera for a few of it's strengths. If you're trying to start a childish browser flame war, take it over to /b/ where somebody might actually care.

Believe me, I am all for changing for the better. But if Ctrl + Click works just like Click - then that is STUPID ( I don't have Opera handy to what exactly it does, but last time I tried that in Google Reader and it opened the link in the same window).

There is nothing stupid about it. Opera had tabs or multiple windows before anyone else, and always used Shift to open a new tab.

No, I do this for a living, I know what the difference between a style sheet and HTML is. Stop guessing and making assumptions.

I'm not making assumptions. I'm looking at your false claims about Opera, and coming up with the most likely explanation.

Whoa.. when did I say that my thoughts represent everyone else?

Ok, not everyone else. You just call anyone who is different from you "crazy."

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    • Text extractor hasn't been working great on 0.99.1 but I am now updating to this version, hopefully it's better!
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