Opera Web Browser

[DizzyG]

I don't know how many of you know what opera is or use it, but I highly suggest checking it out. I started using it on my linux box because I hated mozilla and netscape. I quickly replaced it as the default web browser on most of my computers.

let me highlight some of the key features and explain how they work.
top of the list: press f12 when in opera (I suggest running it in window within windows mode, that's the default anyway) and you'll see a menu about all sorts of things. Right there at the top are three options:
1. accept pop ups
2. refuse pop ups
3. accept and launch behind current window

I almost always have mine set to refuse popups. If a page doesn't seem to be working or clicking has no reaction, I just press f12 and accept them for that short time. So long x10 cam ads.

Right up there near the top is the ability to change the browser's advertised version. You can advertise yourself as IE, netscape or opera, for those pages developed for specific browsers, on the fly, very cool.

right under this on my list is "mouse gestures". That's right, with your right mouse button you can do all sorts of things without opening menus or moving your mouse to the top of the screen to click the icon. Here are some of the ones that I use,
press the right mouse button and hold throughout the motion for all of these

- drag straight down and release -- opens a new window within your opera session
- drag to the left and release -- back
- drag to the right and release -- forward
- make an L shape and relase -- close current window
- hold down right button and use scroll wheel -- toggle between windows of opera.

It's the fastest, most effiecient browser I've used. At the bottom of the screen you'll see the typical images loaded, but also percent downloaded, avg speed and other nice goodies to look at while you wait for pages to load. The download manager is very nice as well.
Just thought you should all check it out, they have versions for linux, windows and mac, I've used them all and they all rock.
Diz

http://www.opera.com

[Ioman]

I am dowloading it now as I type this message. I assume that you still need to pay for the complete version of the browser? I curently use a program called "zero Pop up 3.1" which works great with every browser I use. The thing I like about it is that if you are clicking on a link which you know whill open a new window, just click on the link twice and the window will show up.

Just out of curiosity, how does Designtechnica look through Opera? I think we used to have issues with the older versions. I know that Netscape 4.0 will not even load the site completely. We get complaints once in a while about that.

It really looks like Opera is trying to add some features to its browser which will seperate it from the rest of the pack....adding pop up killers and mouse features is a super huge bonus in my book and something every browser should have. I will try it out today and post what I think. I do like the new Netscape 7.0 too.

[DizzyG]

Opera loads everything I've tried just fine, and when it doesn't I just press f12 and change my browser to identify as something else and that almost always does it. I have no problems with it, it's free to try (full version) and if you want to buy it you can (are supposed to). I have yet to try the e'mail support, but am currently using evolution from ximian.org on my linux boxes. I'm sick of windows, I don't like the clunkyness of osx, so I use windows for games and linux for almost everything else. Not that I don't use microsoft for anything, I wish I could but linux isn't quite there yet.

Anyway, everything on your site that I've tried looks perfect.
Diz

[dang]

Have you tried redhat 8? I had a server's vid and harddrive die on me here at work so I plopped on rh8 on the new drive.

There is on feature I'm really impressed with. You know Windows XP autonotification about when there are updates available? RedHat 8 has something similiar now.

In the systray, if there is a critical update a red orb w/ an blinking exclamation mark appears. You everything is cool and update, a green orb w/ a checkmark, if updates are available, but not critical then a different type of graphic is displayed (haven't seen it but remember reading about it during the install)

You click on the notification icon and up pops a window telling you what updates are available. click the Up2Date button will launch the Up2Date app which will present the updates, with descriptions for each. You choose which ones to install and it downloads and installs, and it works. :)

I did a kernel upgrade this way today, and it actually worked. I couldn't believe it.

[Ioman]

it is sad when an auto update feature is considered "impressive". I like Redhat, but until its consumer friendly, it's not touching my system here. Maybe if I have another system to play with.

[dang]

redhat8 is very user friendly. linux is pretty user friendly for newbies if you install X windows and KDE or Gnome (which by default is installed.)

RedHat8 is by far probably the most user friendly linux OS i have seen. Before that, Suse8 was my fav.

-dan

[Ioman]

I have been trying to install Opera but it keeps freezing up during the Java part of the installation. :(

So far I am not impressed....I will let you know if I get it installed.

[Ioman]

Ok, I finally got the Opera web browser installed, I had to install it without Java support in order to get it to finish.. So far it is OK. I do not care for the banner up in the right hand corner, nor do I like the Amazon and eBay.com quick search fields. The browser also does not load the forums page of Designtechnica correctly, moving the "reply" and the "post thread" buttons to the left side of the field versus the right side where it belongs.

Is Opera still based off of Mosaic like it used to be? It has that Mosaic feel to it. I will still continue to use it so I can get a feel for it. I actually like Netscape 7 better at this point in time, but let me use some of the Opera features before I decide.

[llbbl]

Originally posted by dang
redhat8 is very user friendly. linux is pretty user friendly for newbies if you install X windows and KDE or Gnome (which by default is installed.)

RedHat8 is by far probably the most user friendly linux OS i have seen. Before that, Suse8 was my fav.

-dan


Mandrake is supposed to be the most user friendly but people say that it always seems like it isn't working right. I had some minor issues when I had installed it for the first time, but I think this was just because it was the first LInux install I ever did.

It seems that RedHat is what its all about if you are into Linux.

I have seen it being installed on other systems and it doesn't seem to be that big a deal.

[llbbl]

I don't understand why Dizzy doesn't like Mozilla. I agree that Netscape 7.0 is mega bloated and slower than a trip to the DMV, but the open source clone of Netscape is way better than the AOL version.

The mouse gestures sounds pretty cool. Maybe the Zilla' could start working on somethig similar.

What I didn't like about Opera was that it cost money to get rid of that damn AD at the top of the brower. I had no problems installing it on a ME machine. I don't run that now, but I think that is what I had when I tried it out.

I think you can find hacks for it, but we all know that isn't the right thing to do. ;)

I think zilla is the best browser out and is what I use in place of IE. 1.2 is the newest release.

http://www.mozilla.org/releases/

[llbbl]

Is Opera still based off of Mosaic like it used to be? It has that Mosaic feel to it. I will still continue to use it so I can get a feel for it. I actually like Netscape 7 better at this point in time, but let me use some of the Opera features before I decide.

Isn't everything based on Mosaic, the first web browser?

http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Divisions/Communications/MosaicHistory/

Refer to my other post to how I feel about NS 7. :( :mad: Here are what other geeks think about NS 7.0.

http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2002Aug/gee20020815015892.htm
http://freshmeat.net/projects/netscapecommunicator/?topic_id=31%2C39%2C91
http://www.stevelange.net/index.php?getPost=76

[DizzyG]

a few things:
Dang: the redhat update utility has been there for a long long time. It's been on by default since (I think) RH7.1 or even 7.0. You could always run the utility up2date for even longer. That's not a new thing at all, perhaps you never noticed it or didn't ever turn it on. I always turn that darn thing off as it's annoying, much like I find the windows one annoying.

Ioman: I have no idea why you're having such problems with Opera. I've installed it on probably 20 different machines with different flavors of linux and windows. 98-xp without a single problem. There were some problems with the beta version I'm running on my redhat 8 machine at work, but it's beta, what do you want.

I've tried redhat 8.0 and I think it's another good step in the right direction. I know you'll say they're the microsoft of the linux world, but it's my preference right now and I hate to support microsoft, so I don't anymore. I refuse to pay $250 for ****ty software and $500 for a buggy offfice suite that I'll have to upgrade almost yearly in order to keep using it, insanity. I'm perfectly legal with all of my linux software for around $100, from a business standpoint, you can't go wrong. For home use, your odds of getting caught and fined are pretty low, but in a corporate environment you just can't afford to take the risks.

Ioman, I'm sorry to hear you don't like opera, the banner is on the free version, that's the only thing. Remember you are still supposed to pay for this. I have no problems with your forums, just compared them with ie 5.5 and opera 6.1 (I think) and it looks almost identical, minus my font changes for opera.
Diz

[Ioman]

I think the reason why I was having trouble is because I have Netscape installed as well, so maybe the computer was having difficulty installing the Java code since Netscape uses it as well? Everything is running right now and I think Opera is fine. I don't know if I would pay for it, I do not see any clear advantage over the other browsers excpet maybe the anti-pop up software, but then again, I use a seperate program for that.

[llbbl]

Originally posted by Ioman
I think the reason why I was having trouble is because I have Netscape installed as well, so maybe the computer was having difficulty installing the Java code since Netscape uses it as well? Everything is running right now and I think Opera is fine. I don't know if I would pay for it, I do not see any clear advantage over the other browsers excpet maybe the anti-pop up software, but then again, I use a seperate program for that.

I installed the new JIT Sun Java that Mozilla uses for its java side of things and have had a few problems with it not loading. It might actually be an error in the page that was written before this new switch of Java, but it might also be an error with Mozilla. I am not sure and have been kinda hoping that it would take care of it self in time, since it doen't happen all the time and during the majority of the time spent on the web I am not using it.

[llbbl]

I refuse to pay $250 for ****ty software and $500 for a buggy offfice suite that I'll have to upgrade almost yearly in order to keep using it, insanity. I'm perfectly legal with all of my linux software for around $100, from a business standpoint, you can't go wrong. For home use, your odds of getting caught and fined are pretty low, but in a corporate environment you just can't afford to take the risks.

Diz I think you are a bit off on your estimate of M$ products. I am not hear to take away any steam from the Open Source Community, but I do think that up until Open Office 1.0 was released their wasn't a cheap solution to MSFT Office. We should start a new thread on Open Office cause I am sitll not sure how well it compares to all the features of MSFT Office. For instance, do they even have a database program (anything would be better) similar to Access?

Another reason why I think you are off on your bash of MSFT is that alot of burned copies of their software exist and is easy to come by. I am not saying that this is the right thing to do in a home enviroment and it is absolutly the wrong decision if you are thinking about a Office Suite for an actual Office, but upgrading to new versionf of MSFT Office is usually painless and cheap (if you steal or buy a new OEM PC ).

Have you considered buying a used liscence of Office 2k ? That might be significantly cheaper than the new XP version. Legal copies have to exist on ebay somewhere. I wonder how much they are????

I still use Office 2k and haven't run into any problems with compatiblity, mainly because XP is largely a GUI update.

[DizzyG]

I have checked on pricing, there is no difference, plus you have microsoft saying that they're going to require you to pay for a new copy each year or two, openly. They said they're going to change their pricing, but it'll be some new way of screwing everyone I'm sure. I'm not saying open source is perfect, I'm saying for what I do, it does everything I need. I don't use access, I hate access and don't do much with it. The databases I do use are MySql and Postgres, but that's just what works for me.

I don't even expect everyone to use it, I am not disillusioned thinking that it's right for everyone, I know it's not and if you think it is you have serious issues. I do, however, believe that people should know what the alternatives are and they get better every single day.
Diz

[llbbl]

If open source expects to compete with MSFT$ at every level, they are going to have to develop a program that is similar to Access. I have used MYSQL with my PHP programming and have found it very different than the uhh duhh Access way of doing things.

I downloaded PostGRE last night but haven't installed it yet. :) Will check it out soon tho.

The problem is that everyone expects something different out of the computer. I think we all will find what works the best for us. Not everyone is going to be able to install and configure RH8, download Open Office and get a database up and running without alot of useful explanations beforehand. That is not taking into account that we still have to get the information out to everyone. I think TecTV is a great way!