Wow.. I didn’t know Opera browser had so many admirers. Well, I’ve been using this since its Version 3 (current version is 7.xx)… and its only getting better.
When my 486 PC started complaining about IE4’s misuse of its limited resources, I looked around for other options. I had started getting accustomed to Lynx browser (the Text mode browser. No mouse. No graphics. Just plain text).. and fortunately I found Opera. (I think it was Opera 3.08). What fascinated me was that, on my system, it loaded faster than MS-Word. !! That was the beginning of this long journey. I’ve tried every Opera release since then and am currently using 6.03 (‘cos I’d found some bug in 7.0 .. and haven’t yet tried the later 7.xx releases)
The other reviews have very well explained a lot of things about this magnificent browser. So, I’ll keep this review short by talking about only those features that they’ve missed. (or did I miss reading them).
How could anybody miss out Mouse Gestures!! This was introduced in version 4 (or was it even earlier?).. and since then, I’ve forgotten using toolbar buttons for – Back, Forward, Minimise, Close, etc.
•Clicking Right mouse button immediately followed by left button.. is equivalent of pressing <Back> button.
•Clicking Left mouse button immediately followed by right button.. is equivalent of pressing <Forward> button.
•Holding the right mouse button down & moving the mouse in certain shapes (mostly L or I) can accomplish the following:
o Open a new window.
o Close the current window.
o Minimise the window.
o Maximize the window.
o Go to parent folder (useful when browsing ftp or other sites that display directory structure)
Also, there’s a lot one can do by using a combination of Keyboard & mouse. Like, when Clicking on a link, if <Shift> is pressed, the link opens up in a new window. If <Ctrl>+<Shift> is pressed, the new window opens in background (i.e., new window doesn’t steal focus and you can continue seeing the same window that you clicked).
If using a scroll mouse, pressing <Ctrl> while scrolling will Increase/Decrease the Zoom. (I think this is a Windows OS feature… as it works in MS word also).
All those annoying pop-up ads can be disabled with total ease. Pressing <F12> will bring up a small menu where you can select what you wish to do with those automatic pop-up windows.
Another good thing about Opera is its Stealth mode. (naa.. its just my idiotic usage of words). The same <F12> menu offers options where you can make Opera identify itself as Netscape or IE. i.e., if some site is stupid enough not to allow other browsers, then Opera can fool the website into believing that you are using IE or Netscape.
Yet another goodie about Opera is its “Continuous Browsing” feature. Suppose, you are in the middle of some browsing session.. and you had to close Opera or restart your PC.!!!! NO PROBLEMS at all. Next time you open Opera, you’ll see all your browsing windows are opened and are pointing at the same place where you had them when you closed opera. Now.. how much longer should we wait for IE to get this feature.. (IE5 and IE6.. two major releases.. and they still don’t feel this feature is useful). What more, the same is applicable when some application/website crashes Opera in the middle of a browsing session.
Generally, people spend more time searching for things than on browsing the links given in the search results. Opera makes this searching a little easier. You don’t need to wait till the google home page loads to type in your search criteria. All you need to do is type g “one or more” search strings in the Address bar (where you type the URL)… and VOILA!! Immediately you get a page with your search results.!!!! Now, g is for google. You can use a for AllTheWeb, l for Lycos, s for Super, z for Amazon.com, etc. etc. etc. However, these websites are fixed. We can’t customize this to websites of our choice :-(
All in all a great browser that allows hundreds of customizations. Seriously, if one were to try out all the possible options allowed by Opera, it would take months or maybe even years. (well.. I’ve to admit I’m not done exploring all that it has to offer even though I’ve been using it for 4 years now)
One downside that i’d like to mention is that there are no default plugins for quite a few filetypes. You will need to find ’em on the web. However, the good news is, all plugins that work with Netscape.. also work with Opera.
Happy browsing.
-S.