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[B][U]Opera 9[/U][/B]Web browsers for many are nothing more than a double-click on the big blue ‘ e ’ that gets you that Interweb thing where all the pornography is stored, but for some, a web browser is a piece of software that makes web browsing easier, and more enjoyable.
The Opera web browser is an alternative to Internet Explorer, that offers some of the same features, as well as some others that you may like.
Like pretty much all browsers these days, the Opera web browser is available to download free of charge for your desktop PC. At the time of writing (12th August 2007), the current version of Opera was 9.2.2.
Usual features!
Opera comes complete with many of the standard features Internet Explorer and Firefox do, such as tabbed browsing, delete browsing history (private data), bookmarks (or favourites), a search function, pop-up blocker, password manager and SSL security, but it also has a few additional features of it’s own.
Speed Dial!
The Speed Dial is a list of 9 placeholders, and is a sort of stripped down, quick-to-access bookmark list. When opening a new tab, the Speed Dial list is what is displayed, and clicking on any of your 9 listed sites will load the page up for you.
A web site can be added to this list by a simple drag-and-drop, and is stored for as long as you want it. Each site is given a unique reference number (1 to 9) which lets you access each listed site via it’s given number. You can drag-and-drop the listed sites around if you wish to change the reference number given to it.
Full screen mode!
Most web browsers contain a full screen feature, which removes part of the browsers buttons and bars to allow more space for the web page you’re viewing, and Opera is no different in this respect. Opera, however, hides away every aspect of the web browser, so your full screen is filled with the web page you’re viewing (evening hiding away your Windows XP taskbar).
Because the scrollbars also disappear, it can be a little awkward to use if you don’t have a mouse with a 4-way scroll-wheel, but you can still use your keyboards directional arrows to scroll around the page.
Mouse gestures!
Because a lot of browsing on the web is done via web links, and hence mainly uses a mouse (unless you need to type) Opera’s mouse gestures allow for quick use of some of the browsers features. This usually includes holding down the mouse’s right-click button, and moving the mouse in a particular manor.
For example, holding down the right-click button, moving the mouse to the left, then releasing the right-click button will skip back through the browsers history, whereas right-click, move mouse right, release, will move forward though your history, while moving the mouse up and down while right-clicking, then releasing will reload the page. A handy little feature once you begin to memorise the particular direction / action combinations (especially the reload one for Freeola Bingo).
Navigation bar!
The navigation bar in opera makes use of web sites internal references to particular web pages, and can make browsing a web site that includes such references much quicker.
The BBC, for example, include internal references to their index, help and copyright pages within their site code, and so Opera makes this available within the navigation bar, allowing you to click to those pages without having to hunt around the web page to find them. Other sites contain a reference to their site search function, the site author, or the previous / next page, which can makes browsing photo galleries, web articles or web forums much easier if the web site includes these references.
Unfortunately, many sites don’t, so it’s hit-and-miss weather or not the navigation bar will be helpful on any particular web site.
Download manager!
The download manager in Opera is viewable as a tab, rather than a separate pop-up alert box like other web browsers. It also makes keeping track of your downloading much easier, as it lists them all in a table, with details of how long the download is expected to take, the file download speed and the progress of the download.
You can also pause and resume individual downloads if you feel the need, for example, if a large file is taking a while, you can pause it to allow your remaining downloads to use up the freed bandwidth. If your downloading is interrupted (for example, your Internet connection cuts out for whatever reason) then Opera will keep what it has already downloaded, and allow you to continue it once you’ve reconnected, saving you the hassle of going back to the web site to find it, and then starting the download all over again.
Opera also supports BitTorrent downloading.
Trash can!
With all the tabs that are available in browsers nowadays, you’re probably not alone if you’ve ever closed a tab, and then thought “Nuts, I didn’t mean to do that”! Well, Opera’s trashcan (located to the right of the list of tabs) keeps a copy of the tabs that are deleted, so if you do close a few tabs by mistake, you can pull it out of the trash with a simple click-click.
If your list is getting a little large though, you can delete it all just as easily.
Feeds, email and chat!
Opera pulls web feeds and email together to make them available directly in the browser, saving the need to use a separate program for each (such as Outlook Express).
It also includes a chat function that can connection to IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, if that’s your poison.
Voice recognition!
Even with mouse gestures, there must be an even quicker (or, more accurately, ‘lazier’) way to browse? Well, if you have a microphone, then Opera’s voice recognition can allow you to verbally give Opera commands. Fancy resting your eyes as well? Simple tell Opera to “speak” and it’ll read out the current web page, or read you your email…
It should be noted, however, that currently Opera does not support the “make my dinner” or “clean my house” commands.
Anything missing?
As good as Opera is, a lot of other software comes with an automatic updates feature, to ensure that you’ve got the latest and greatest version of the product, but unfortunately, Opera currently lacks this type of feature, so you will need to use the “Check for updates” option, which is within the browsers “Help” menu. Opera also requires you to download a whole installer to get an update, and requires a fresh install to be done.
Opera also doesn’t include a spell checker by default, although you can download one separately.
Overall rating
There are actually many more features that Opera offers that you can play about with and alter to your personal preferences, and no doubt more will soon follow, but for now, I would give Opera (version 9) a rating of 8 / 10 or 85%. It’s a great web browser, and the little extras do make browsing easier, but the lack of an auto-updates feature (even a basic “there is a new version” alert) in this day of fast producing virus and worms is a little short-signed in my view.
If you’re savvy enough to remember to check for updates regularly, then you may find Opera is a great browser to start using, but if you’re not that good at remembering that kind of thing, I’d perhaps skip past Opera for the time being.
Just a quick note to add that Opera is also available for the new Nintendo Wii games console, branded as the “Wii Internet Channel”, and is available from the online Wii Shop - although at a cost of 500 Wii points. It includes a limited feature-set, that includes a fly-in keyboard when required (web forms, typing in web addresses, etc), a bookmark feature, and a search function for Google and Yahoo.
The Nintendo DS also has a version of Opera available that can be bought on a games cartridge from most stores that sell DS games.
mouse4 and mouse5 for back and forwards is the best (if you have a five buttoned mouse)
Exactly :) so that's one less reason for Opera for me.
Opera have bumped up the version to 2.23 as of 15th August, 2007.
Chaos:
"quick alt+left/right can be used for backwards and forwards in pages".
Opera seems to be able to do that as well.
Chaos:
"quick alt+left/right can be used for backwards and forwards in pages".
Opera seems to be able to do that as well.
=( What's wrong with IE?
I hate firefox... Slow, shabby, and just made everything harder to use.
I hate firefox... Slow, shabby, and just made everything harder to use.
Comparing IE to Opera?
:\
I like Opera but the last few versions seem to have had some memory issues...
:\
I like Opera but the last few versions seem to have had some memory issues...
IE7 is so dirty :( Opera and Firefox 2 (I use Firefox 2 at home and at work) are much nicer and easier to use.
IE7 should simply have been IE6 with tabs, now that would have been a damn good browser, but no they had to ruin everything :(
IE7 should simply have been IE6 with tabs, now that would have been a damn good browser, but no they had to ruin everything :(
Sounds good, but I'm not sure it's worth it... I have hotmail, I like my download boxes, and a quick alt+left/right can be used for backwards and forwards in pages.
A nice explorer, but IE7 sounds a shade nicer :)
A nice explorer, but IE7 sounds a shade nicer :)
[B][U]Opera 9[/U][/B]Web browsers for many are nothing more than a double-click on the big blue ‘ e ’ that gets you that Interweb thing where all the pornography is stored, but for some, a web browser is a piece of software that makes web browsing easier, and more enjoyable.
The Opera web browser is an alternative to Internet Explorer, that offers some of the same features, as well as some others that you may like.
Like pretty much all browsers these days, the Opera web browser is available to download free of charge for your desktop PC. At the time of writing (12th August 2007), the current version of Opera was 9.2.2.
Usual features!
Opera comes complete with many of the standard features Internet Explorer and Firefox do, such as tabbed browsing, delete browsing history (private data), bookmarks (or favourites), a search function, pop-up blocker, password manager and SSL security, but it also has a few additional features of it’s own.
Speed Dial!
The Speed Dial is a list of 9 placeholders, and is a sort of stripped down, quick-to-access bookmark list. When opening a new tab, the Speed Dial list is what is displayed, and clicking on any of your 9 listed sites will load the page up for you.
A web site can be added to this list by a simple drag-and-drop, and is stored for as long as you want it. Each site is given a unique reference number (1 to 9) which lets you access each listed site via it’s given number. You can drag-and-drop the listed sites around if you wish to change the reference number given to it.
Full screen mode!
Most web browsers contain a full screen feature, which removes part of the browsers buttons and bars to allow more space for the web page you’re viewing, and Opera is no different in this respect. Opera, however, hides away every aspect of the web browser, so your full screen is filled with the web page you’re viewing (evening hiding away your Windows XP taskbar).
Because the scrollbars also disappear, it can be a little awkward to use if you don’t have a mouse with a 4-way scroll-wheel, but you can still use your keyboards directional arrows to scroll around the page.
Mouse gestures!
Because a lot of browsing on the web is done via web links, and hence mainly uses a mouse (unless you need to type) Opera’s mouse gestures allow for quick use of some of the browsers features. This usually includes holding down the mouse’s right-click button, and moving the mouse in a particular manor.
For example, holding down the right-click button, moving the mouse to the left, then releasing the right-click button will skip back through the browsers history, whereas right-click, move mouse right, release, will move forward though your history, while moving the mouse up and down while right-clicking, then releasing will reload the page. A handy little feature once you begin to memorise the particular direction / action combinations (especially the reload one for Freeola Bingo).
Navigation bar!
The navigation bar in opera makes use of web sites internal references to particular web pages, and can make browsing a web site that includes such references much quicker.
The BBC, for example, include internal references to their index, help and copyright pages within their site code, and so Opera makes this available within the navigation bar, allowing you to click to those pages without having to hunt around the web page to find them. Other sites contain a reference to their site search function, the site author, or the previous / next page, which can makes browsing photo galleries, web articles or web forums much easier if the web site includes these references.
Unfortunately, many sites don’t, so it’s hit-and-miss weather or not the navigation bar will be helpful on any particular web site.
Download manager!
The download manager in Opera is viewable as a tab, rather than a separate pop-up alert box like other web browsers. It also makes keeping track of your downloading much easier, as it lists them all in a table, with details of how long the download is expected to take, the file download speed and the progress of the download.
You can also pause and resume individual downloads if you feel the need, for example, if a large file is taking a while, you can pause it to allow your remaining downloads to use up the freed bandwidth. If your downloading is interrupted (for example, your Internet connection cuts out for whatever reason) then Opera will keep what it has already downloaded, and allow you to continue it once you’ve reconnected, saving you the hassle of going back to the web site to find it, and then starting the download all over again.
Opera also supports BitTorrent downloading.
Trash can!
With all the tabs that are available in browsers nowadays, you’re probably not alone if you’ve ever closed a tab, and then thought “Nuts, I didn’t mean to do that”! Well, Opera’s trashcan (located to the right of the list of tabs) keeps a copy of the tabs that are deleted, so if you do close a few tabs by mistake, you can pull it out of the trash with a simple click-click.
If your list is getting a little large though, you can delete it all just as easily.
Feeds, email and chat!
Opera pulls web feeds and email together to make them available directly in the browser, saving the need to use a separate program for each (such as Outlook Express).
It also includes a chat function that can connection to IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, if that’s your poison.
Voice recognition!
Even with mouse gestures, there must be an even quicker (or, more accurately, ‘lazier’) way to browse? Well, if you have a microphone, then Opera’s voice recognition can allow you to verbally give Opera commands. Fancy resting your eyes as well? Simple tell Opera to “speak” and it’ll read out the current web page, or read you your email…
It should be noted, however, that currently Opera does not support the “make my dinner” or “clean my house” commands.
Anything missing?
As good as Opera is, a lot of other software comes with an automatic updates feature, to ensure that you’ve got the latest and greatest version of the product, but unfortunately, Opera currently lacks this type of feature, so you will need to use the “Check for updates” option, which is within the browsers “Help” menu. Opera also requires you to download a whole installer to get an update, and requires a fresh install to be done.
Opera also doesn’t include a spell checker by default, although you can download one separately.
Overall rating
There are actually many more features that Opera offers that you can play about with and alter to your personal preferences, and no doubt more will soon follow, but for now, I would give Opera (version 9) a rating of 8 / 10 or 85%. It’s a great web browser, and the little extras do make browsing easier, but the lack of an auto-updates feature (even a basic “there is a new version” alert) in this day of fast producing virus and worms is a little short-signed in my view.
If you’re savvy enough to remember to check for updates regularly, then you may find Opera is a great browser to start using, but if you’re not that good at remembering that kind of thing, I’d perhaps skip past Opera for the time being.
Just a quick note to add that Opera is also available for the new Nintendo Wii games console, branded as the “Wii Internet Channel”, and is available from the online Wii Shop - although at a cost of 500 Wii points. It includes a limited feature-set, that includes a fly-in keyboard when required (web forms, typing in web addresses, etc), a bookmark feature, and a search function for Google and Yahoo.
The Nintendo DS also has a version of Opera available that can be bought on a games cartridge from most stores that sell DS games.