| Speed dial your web pages |
| By: Ionut Ilascu, Editor, Software Reviews |
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Version reviewed: 9.20.8771 Final
The most full-featured Internet power tool on the market, advanced functions like Opera's groundbreaking e-mail program, RSS Newsfeeds and IRC chat. And because we know that our users have different needs, you can customize the look and content of your Opera browser with a few clicks of the mouse.
Some features:
Integrated search
Pop-up blocking
Fast Forward
Password manager
Browsing sessions
Mouse gestures
Quick preferences
Notes
Voice (for sight deficient users)
Security bar
Encryption (SSL 2/3 and TLS)
Delete private data
Cookie control
Opera Mail
 DOWNLOAD PROGRAM
 REQUEST A REVIEW
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October 18th and October 24th are two of the dates sentenced not to be forgotten too easily in software world. First it was IE7. Firefox followed shortly with launching their latest versions. In my office everybody was asking about Opera. Has the project stopped? Our MAC and Linux teams warned me that the new release of Opera will be introducing new elements competition will wish to have thought about them first.
It took longer then I expected, but the latest Opera release launched yesterday. As soon as I found out I proceeded to downloading and testing it. As non-conventional as ever, the latest edition preserves the anterior innovations and comes with new ones. Despite the fact that there aren't many differences from the earlier version, the software has taken some measures in what concerns security, there is a Developer Tools option and the now famous Speed Dial. Nevertheless, each aspect has been minutely considered and the necessary attention was paid so that the final result would really make a difference on the web browser market.
You may have heard enough about this, but Opera still remains the fastest browser out there and during our testing the its response was superior to both IE7 and Firefox.
In what concerns the aspect, it seems to me that Opera looks better then ever. Its MAC looks still turn some heads and make a good impact on the end user. The default View settings of the application give a clean view of the web page as some of the toolbars are disabled.
Tabbed browsing and multiple browsing sessions are features that took some time to be adopted by competitors and regarding the latter it is still missing from many similar softwares. The importing capabilities go as far as importing the favorites folder from IE, Konqueror or Netscape/Firefox.
Combining the RSS feed reading with widgets and mail client applications, Opera proves to be a universal tool for keeping you connected with the world outside your network.
The most impressing feature of this release is Speed Dial. It is not at all complicated and if you come to think of it, it isn't even something extraordinary. The catch here is that no one ever thought about needing such an option and how easier browsing would be with it. The principle is the same as in the phone technology. Press one key and the assigned number will be dialed. In Opera the speed dial list opens as soon as you invoke a new tab.
Instead of a completely blank page you get a background filled with nine squares. Clicking on one of them will pop up the dialog for assigning a web page. To make it easier to you the frequently visited pages are displayed or you can copy/paste the URL from a different tab. Once added the web link it'll stick there until you clear that number. I know that bookmaks have the same end, but speed dial is faster and you get to preview the page in the corresponding square first.
The option for previewing the web pages in the tabs at hovering the mouse over them is preserved in this version too. Form filling option is disguised under the Wand tool of the toolbar. The fields to be completed are surrounded by a contour, just to make them stand out and the user to know that the private data will be automatically typed in there. The shortcut for automatically filling the fields is Ctrl+Enter.
The widget world available on Opera's website cover everything from games, clocks, radios, search tools or images to sports, weather related, mail and messaging and webcams. They can all be managed from the Widgets menu and organized in folders for the different categories available. Additionally you can create your own widget in under a minute (with the help of Opera Widgetize). And with the support for Bit Torrent, you can search the desired files and download them with Opera.
Feed reading is old news in Opera, but I am going to mention it regardless. The user can add as many news feeds as s/he wants, with the possibility of setting the update rate from 5 minutes to up to one week for the slow ones.
Panel toolbar initiated from View>Toolbars menu will open in the left hand part of the web browser and contains a series of options designed to make you dependent of Opera (if you aren't already). Bookmark manager, Widget management, Contacts management, the download log, URL history, mail client and Links are all
you need to feel comfortable and save the space in the taskbar.
Each of the above mentioned instruments will open in the side panel for proper management and manipulation. I think the side panel is the only thing hindering the page viewing. An automatic hiding would make things much better or at least become active the moment you access one of the above mentioned tools.
The mail client is an all-inclusive tool as it incorporates various options like RSS feeds, news groups accounts, separate attachments folder, etc. Multiple accounts is supported and separate management can be done. The process of creating a new e-mail account is automatic and the wizard will guide you through the necessary steps, no matter if you want to create a POP3 account, IMAP, news, Opera Web Mail or a chat account (IRC).
For regular email accounts there is an option many mail clients fail to incorporate and that is the possibility of leaving the messages on the server. Additionally, a very special feature of the software is the importing function available. It permits you to import e-mails from other clients (Opera 5 and 6, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Eudora and versions 6 and 7 of Netscape mail). The option is available in the File menu, under Import/Export.
Preferences menu gives you fast access to setting up your search engines. As you probably know, Opera supports searching for information directly from the web address by entering the corresponding search engine key followed by your query. In Preferences you can play with the settings for this feature and add some more elements of your own.
Wand tool has an additional talent that of automatically filling web forms with your personal information. Just type in the information in the Wand window of the Preferences menu and you are good to go.
During our testing this version of Opera crashed only once, but it's a good thing the application is equipped with that session restoring function and we were able to load the exact same pages. However, the problem resides in the refresh of the browser. Whenever you go back to a page Opera will load the old cache and unless you perform a reload of the page you will be presented with old data.
In the Advanced section of the Preferences menu, under Security there is another interesting feature: Fraud Protection. Enabling this little option will actually make browsing more secure as the application will alert you whenever you are entering an un-secure zone. The little question mark in the web address bar is indicating whether the page is secure or not. In the case of a certified secure domain the question mark will turn into "i", from "identified" as being safe.
The Good
Well, whenever I complete an Opera browsing session and return to my tasks, I have the feeling that everything is in slow motion. Speed is definitely an asset worthy of mentioning in this section.
Fraud protection and certificate management are also one of the good things Opera puts on display. Speed Dial, despite its simplicity proves to be a very handy feature for accessing the daily links (helps in keeping the tab bar less crowded).
Wand tool, Widgets, mail client, fees reader, email and bookmarks importing, mouse gestures, cookie control, password manager they are all part of the hall of fame features of Opera.
The Bad
The little crash experienced during the testing is no biggie at all as due to the session restore function the same pages could be loaded from the exact point they were interrupted. But the refresh problem persists. With each release I hoped this issue to be fixed. It seems that I have to wait a little longer for this.
There is no support for URL aliases. This feature, as obscure as it may be to some users helps saving a lot of time when you are in a hurry.
Roboform is still not supported by the browser, so the Wand tool will have to do. Wand is good enough for the average user but it will simply not do for an advanced one.
The Truth
I just closed the browser and there is definitely an issue as it seems that there is not enough speed around me. Opera surely sets new standards in what concerns browsing speeds, especially with the Fast Forward function residing right next to forward button.
Test it while it is still hot and experience the latest release from the Norwegian developer by yourselves. If you have any questions, the help file is comprehensive enough to shelter the answer you are looking for.
For reading the review for version 8.51.7712, click here.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
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Editor's ratings:
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OVERALL: 
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| | Opera 9.50 Build 10063 Final | | Reviewer: sniper |
Date: 2008-06-13, 02:18 GMT
Version: Opera 9.50 Build 10063 Final
Overall rating: (Excellent)
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| | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: |  | @ file_master:
Did you try: tools->advanced->blocked content... ?
AdBlock plus is more advanced but this is a nice alternative...
for example:
*ban*.gif*
*pagead*
http://ad.*
For mouse gestures you can use 2 actions for one gesture using the \"&\".For example:
Close page & Switch to next page
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| | Opera 9.50 Build 10063 Final | | Reviewer: file_master |
Date: 2008-06-12, 03:04 GMT
Version: Opera 9.50 Build 10063 Final
Overall rating:  (Very Good)
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| GUI: Features:  Ease of use: Value: | | I've always been a big fan of Opera, mostly for its amazing speed, low system requirements and superb integrated package.
Still, lately I've been using Firefox 3.0 more. Why ? One reason: AdBlock plus. You can't surf the net these days without a gread ad blocker and there aren't any for Opera. Sure, there are some amazing stand alone alternatives, like Ad Muncher, but still, nothing beats having such a program integrated seamlessly into your browser.
Separate ad blockers take up extra system memory and may interfere with some ad-based mmo's, of wich there are quite a few these days. Sure, you can close it when you play something, but nothing beats having it integrated into the browser.
TBH, Opera is a great package, but I see one major flaw with it. IMO, it will never get truly competitive unless the developers decide to go open source. It's ordinary people that make these packages great, since coding has become such a complex job.
BitTorrent Client is pretty useless, since most sites ban any client that doesn't have "Utorrent" or "Azureus" in its name.
Mail is very nice, but who uses POP3 and IMAP these days, when webmail dominates everything ? And even if you have a corporate account, it will most likely have some form of webmail as well. Who wants to configure mail clients when you can just enter your name and password and read your mail ?
Mouse gestures are very nice, but still not as configurable as FF's 3rd party addons.
Acid3: really, who gives a damn ? I realize it's all about web standards and all, but what good it does to respect a set of standards that nobody else seems to care about ? With all its "compatibility", you'd think it would display all the sites flawlessly, but unfortunately, that is not the case.
To be fair to this great program, the number of unsupported sites decreases every day, but IE and FF will still display flash-heavy sites faster and more fluently.
I'm not trying to crucify Opera, because it's still great, but IMO the only way to achieve mass adoption would be to allow 3rd party addons (and I don't mean the useless gimmicks known as widgets)
Compared to IE7, it still wins by a mile, but FF is a better (more configurable) overall browser. |
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| | Opera 9.50 Build 9945 Beta 2 / 9.27 Build 8841 Final | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | | btw anyone who sees new features on opera or any other browser and thinks it will help them catch up to firefox, needs to understand that any new feature available in other browsers will be available to firefox users as well with add-ons. firefox pretty much can have all the features of opera minus the widgets but the widgets are kinda gay in comparison to firefox's add-ons. |
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| | Opera 9.50 Build 9841 Beta / 9.26 Build 8835 Final | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | Opera is supposedly the only one to score 100 on the new acid3 test but that said its customizability issue will keep it from being the best.
firefox 3.0b5pre scored a 71 of 100 which is 29 less than opera yet its customizablility will keep it the best browser out there no named internet explorer. only firefox can catch ie as well, opera can claim best and such but it will never be what firefox already is and thats america's favorite browser. this is firefox's world, everyone else just lives in it. |
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| | Opera 9.50 Build 9815 Beta / 9.26 Build 8835 Final | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | I use Opera for 5 years , but I have also IE7 and Firefox installed on my PC, as I am a webdeveloper and I use the other two just for testing my pages in all the 3 most used browsers.I was always overwhelmed by the sheer speed of Opera, its ease of use, the straight forward and useful features. And if you think 9.26 is fast, just try the 9,5Beta because it's even faster.
The incorporated Mail client is one of the best I know, very fast and sincronizing my IMAP folders and downloading messages much faster than other dedicated Mail clients, such as Thunderbird, KomaMail, Reach-a Mail, etc. Newsfeeds are also availabe and the degree of customization is simply excelent and very easy to control
I know Opera is the fastes of them all ,has the most logical safety features that you can encounter in a web browser, a truly secuere and safe browser.
Memory wise, the new version has a smallest foot print than previous versions but bear in mind that also IE and Firefox are huge ram eaters.
I would not say only that Opera is the fastes browser on earth, I would say also that it is the Best Browser on earth |
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| | Opera 9.50 Build 9681 Alpha / 9.24 Build 8816 Stable | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | Opera is the Browsers' King. It's:
-simple
-fast
-secure.
No problem with memory uses. It's very customizable too. Simply it's the best!
No hay dudas, Opera es el mejor de los Navegadores de Internet. Sencillo y simple. Es muy configurable y no hace mucho uso de la memoria de tu ordenador. |
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| | Opera 9.5 Kestrel Beta 1 Build 9613 Beta / 9.24 Build 8816 Stable | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | | As a longtime IE user right up to IE7 both at home and work,then more recently Firefox,which I loaded on my home system..I feel duped! never will IE Firefox be allowed on my home system ever..Opera is superb! by far faster no matter how many tabs are open..virtually instant. Fantastic features supported by tutorials,some with demos to walk you through it painlessly...in 30mins I knew more about Opera than I ever got too about IE..Superb aand countless widgets some for fun and others of real use. Opera , according to other reviews is far more secure than IE or Firefox...Opera switched the lights on as far as I'm concerned. |
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| | Opera for Windows (Non-Java) 9.20.8762 | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | this is excellent product, but recently i have switched to Mozilla since it could be turned into much powerful browser than Opera. Favorite combination with mozilla:
- AdBlock plus
- DownThem All
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| | Opera for Windows (Non-Java) 9.10.8679 | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | | A super browser indeed.I love this browser |
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| | Opera for Windows (Non-Java) 9.02.8585 Final | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | Pros:
- Customizable(better than FF)
- Stable
- "Create Search" Function
- It's free
- Good content blocking and effective popup blocking
Cons:
- Some websites doesn't like Opera
- M2 needs some serious updating
I think it's the best browser so far. Doesn't hurt to have multiple browsers so go ahead and try it. |
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| | Opera for Windows (Non-Java) 9.01.8505 Beta | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | Excellent browser with many GUI customizations. All my extensions installed on Firefox are included in the box. Fantastic!
Now, Opera is my defaut browser on Windows and Linux. Firefox installed only for web testing. :) |
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| | Opera for Windows (Non-Java) 9.01.8505 Beta | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | problems with some sites: google reader, google calendar, writely, digg.com (v3), etc. (Due to small market share?)
Otherwise very good! :) |
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| | Opera for Windows (Non-Java) 9.00.8406 | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | I decided to switch Firefox with Opera. After a few hours of using Opera, even with that amazing speed i had(as some one said "It smokes Firefox at starting speed and rendering pages")i decided it's not good enought.
Why?
1. I noticed that compatibility with some sites it's even worse that Firefox's. Google Pages? Nope not today. That is a big minus for me. I use that site alot (btw it works on Firefox)
2. Extensions". If Opera would EVER like to take the crown from FF it must include an addon system that would permit users make usefull utilities. I am so addicted to extensions that i see it as a standard browser feature.
3.Opera's Pop Up Blocker sucks ass as well as the integrated downloader and other "integrated" utilities (Extensions?)
Those are the reason i didn't uninstalled Firefox. |
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| | Opera for Windows (Non-Java) 9.00.8372 | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | After reading the review by "Tokar" I decided to give Opera another try. I tried it a couple of times in the past but was never excited enough to keep it. Mostly due to the fact that you had to deal with the ad banners or buy it.
I have been using Firefox for what seems like a very long time now. I like the fact that my Spyware/Adware and Antivirus software doesn't pick up nearly as many items as they did when I was an Internet Explorer user. For that reason, I almost exclusively use Firefox.
Now about Opera. I won't even begin to describe all of the features. Tokar has done an outstanding job as always giving an extremely good review and I recommend that everyone who might be interested in Opera, to scroll down a bit and take some time to read it. I will point out the following...
Fast download
Easy to install
Easy to use
Easy to customize
It's FAST!
The broadband speed test shows that Firefox is faster but you could never prove it by me.... Opera simply seems faster!
I've been playing around with it for most of the day (sadly enough, I didn't have much of anything else to do). I tried it with the game sites POGO and Candystand - did some downloading, read some news, did some general browsing. Messed around with features, customizing etc., With the exception of some text formatting issues at a couple of the news sites I was browsing, It truly is an excellent browser. I plan to keep it around and who knows, I might even uninstall Firefox. I never thought I would say that but it's a possibility. Even though I like Firefox, after today, I believe that Opera does a better job and has better features to boot.
If you have used Opera in the past, give it another try, if you haven't, now is your chance. It's well worth it!!
Take care!!
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| | Opera for Windows (Non-Java) 9.00.8372 | | | GUI: Features: Ease of use: Value: | | | Excellent browser. |
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