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Taking Opera 10 For An *(extended) Spin
Similar to many of you out there, I have been an avid Firefox user for many years. I will be the first to admit that Firefox is an excellent browser, full of features and having an abundance of add-ons. While browsing a couple of weeks ago, I happened to read that there was a new beta of Opera released, providing a UI overhaul and new “visual tabs.” As an interested user, I figured I would give it a go and see what it was like, and boy am I glad I did.
The Powerhouse That Is Opera
I have used Opera in the past, never really feeling that it was capable of replacing Firefox for me. For those of you out there that do not know, Opera has some interesting features of its own, including:
- Speed Dial: Your favorite sites are just one click away at all times.
- Quick Find: Essentially comparable to the "awesome bar" in Firefox, Quick Find remembers not only the titles and addresses, but also the actual content of the Web pages you visit.
- Opera Mail: Opera browser offers an e-mail client designed to optimize your daily e-mail-handling requirements. Built right into the browser, Opera Mail has completely replaced Postbox for my email needs.
- Chat: Opera boasts a solid IRC client built right in, offering all of the essential features for and average IRC user.
- Web Standards: Opera is quite possibly the most standards compliant browser out there. Opera 10 beta passes Acid3 right out of the box. The rendering engine is also optimized for sites such as Facebook and Gmail.
- Built in developer tools.
- Opera Link: Opera Link lets you synchronize data of your choice online, or among different computers and devices.
- More features for the current stable release, and the new beta.
Usability
One the major reasons that I did not switch to Opera long ago was because of usability. Being used to Firefox and taking advantage of quite a few add-ons would make a browser switch quite difficult. After seriously using Opera for a couple of weeks I have come to the realization that many of the features provided by Firefox add-ons are built right into Opera. For example, I used the extension AdBlock Plus in the past to get rid of the pesky ads presented by some websites. While Opera has no add-ons to prevent such a thing, it has a handy urlfilter.ini file that can easily take an ad blocking list. Opera's customizability make it an extremely flexible choice as a browser, making it stand out in my opinion.
Appearance
As a designer, I am often more finicky concerning appearance than your average user. Surprisingly, I quite enjoy the interface of Opera 10 beta, It is clean and polished, getting the job done while not being overly distracting. According to the recent posts on the Opera Blog, the interface is not final, but well on its way. It took me a couple of days to get used to my bookmarks being accessible from a sidebar and my bookmark bar being above my tabs. A week or so in, I may enjoy the interface more than that of a skinned Firefox. In my opinion, it surely trumps the default Firefox skin.
Final Thoughts
So now the difficult design comes about: Will I stay with Opera 10 or be lured in by Firefox 3.5. I reckon only time will tell, and I will have to see how the final versions turn out. At least for a couple more weeks I plan on sticking with Opera though as it feels to be everything I want in a browser. Kudos to the developers of Opera on a job well done, I suggest you all check out Opera at: http://www.opera.com