Opera For Dummies

[AYHJA]

My woes with Firefox have hit a wall...I'm just not really in the mood for the stalls and problems that the new version have brought out...I'm now using all 4 browsers...IE for M$ stuff, Firefox for the heavy duty, custom stuff, Chrome for speed, and now, I'm using Opera, just to check it out...

So far so good, I do not have any ad-block extensions installed, but it looks clean, moves fast, and has some nice features...It has been a long time since I've used Opera, much has changed...Before I switched to Firefox in '04, Opera was all that I used...

Now, I'm in the mood for a little tutelage, somebody who is to Opera what I am to Firefox, who can show me a few ropes and make a couple of recommendations for must haves...

TIA..!

[Dietrich]

I too would appreciate what Opera-savvy folks have to say about the browser. Not because I've been experienced mention-worthy problems with Firefox (actually, FF has been giving me the least grief of all the browsers I've used or at least tried to use in the past couple months), but because I'd like to see what other browsers have to offer. Also, I'm curious if there's a fix for whatever was making it so frustrating to work with Tumblr while using Opera.

[5829]

I use Opera for my main browser, but I can't help with advanced stuff. I don't have any Widgets installed just like I don't have any add-ons/extensions if FF. A couple of things that you might want to check out is the 'notes' feature, 'search' under 'preferences' and 'advanced' under preferences. if you have enabled single key shortcuts (advanced) you can use the 5 key (not f5) to resize the active tab - you can see more than one tab in the browser. Have not really tried it myself but Opera Turbo speeds things up also.

The other thing about Opera is that there are some sites that are not Opera friendly. I end up using FF if I need see something on those sites. Fortunately I have not had any trouble with this site.

[AYHJA]

Been using Opera and playing with all its features since I wrote this thread...

I'm almost ashamed to say it, but its kinda my favorite browser again...I'm pretty sure that if there was an easy way to insert ad block I'd hardly ever open Firefox for normal browsing...I'm using Opera now, pages are loading fast as shit...I love the whole 'My Opera' thing and think that there are several cool features related to it...

Nothing will ever replace Firefox full time, my browser is just too tricked out, and there are only some things that I do with Firefox...But as far as logging on, not really doing anything hardcore, Opera is getting it done...

The mobile version of Opera is good too, I use it on my POS phone...

[jdog]

Been using Opera and playing with all its features since I wrote this thread...

I'm almost ashamed to say it, but its kinda my favorite browser again...I'm pretty sure that if there was an easy way to insert ad block I'd hardly ever open Firefox for normal browsing...I'm using Opera now, pages are loading fast as shit...I love the whole 'My Opera' thing and think that there are several cool features related to it...

Nothing will ever replace Firefox full time, my browser is just too tricked out, and there are only some things that I do with Firefox...But as far as logging on, not really doing anything hardcore, Opera is getting it done...

The mobile version of Opera is good too, I use it on my POS phone...

I think I agree with you. I have grown sick of Firefox's resource abuse. Recently I have had an issue where Firefox 3.6.3 was using 1.5GB of physical memory. My last problem was with Firefox 3.6.6 where I only had about 5-6 tabs open and it had one of my CPU cores pegged at 100%. I have a quad core so my system was fine but the browser was acting like a slug. So I'm converting everything over to Opera 10.60.

[jdog]

So far so good with Opera 10.60. It is using a LOT of memory right now but seems to hover around 500MB. I have an extensive number of tabs open, about 10. :angel:

It's very fast and I like how well it integrates with Windows Aero with the thumbnails of each page as you hover over a tab. I've moved my bookmarks over and set up the Speed Dial with all of my most used pages. :dance:

The only real problem I have had is my bank's website won't work with it. They are picky and only certified IE, Safari, Firefox, AOL and Netscape (really?). So when I go to the bank's website with Opera it just defaults to a page that tells me to use IE or Firefox. :|

[¡ñ±£¿®∆L Ф¶†ïς@п]

I could help anyone out that needs resources, tip, tricks, and hints on how to operate Opera to the fullest of its (or, more accurately, MY) capabilities.

I've not made it a secret here, but this is now 4+ years in which I have called Opera home, and everything you can do with IE or Firefox, I've probably learned just as well how to do it in Opera, if not better. No other browser I've used can customize itself with keyboard and mouse, as well as voice commands, in the way you do so with Opera. Also, any search engine on the web can instantly be turned into a simplified search function in your address bar in Opera, whereby you only need to type in "w space Genghis Khan" to instantly utilize wikipedia's search engine to search for the marauder.

Ube: about the ad-block feature, I do remember (over 3 years ago) I downloaded an Opera .txt or .msi or some kind of small filelisting that blocks around 90% of the more apparent ads on the net, right within the browser. For anything else, like it if you see ads on a new webpage opened, you can right-click on the page, click "Block Content..." and pick and choose which ads you'd like to never see again. It works with the advertisement address solely, so if the ads pop up on NBC.com as well as NFL.com, you only need to filter it out on one of the sites in order to never see it on any of the sites.



And the Opera Notes feature is beyond Boss. No one would ever want to see how meticulously organized my notes are (I just set up around 30+ folders two months ago because they were getting a bit too specific) but I will say, it is like regular Bookmarks, reminders, and to-do thoughts, on steroids. I probably have well over 10,000 individual links from anything from my Brazilian topic, to how to let MS Word alpahabetie any list, and thousands of other little reminders on sites and topics to start. I might take a screenshot of it, so you might better learn how to fully utilize one of the main reasons so many people LOVE Opera (I hear it a ton that some only use Opera because of the Notes, as well as the speed).

[jdog]

Nice! That's what I need! An Opera guru!

Can you help me prevent Opera from sending it's referrer information to the bank website I use? I tried to disable it by going to Menu > Settings > Quick Preferences and uncheck Send Referrer Information. It didn't work. I basically do not want the browser to identify itself to the bank website: https://www.huntington.com

If you go there you get redirected. No matter what, it won't load the login page. I would rather not use IE8 and I'm trying to get away from using Firefox. Both of those are what the bank refers to as certified to work.

[¡ñ±£¿®∆L Ф¶†ïς@п]

Basically, going to the bank website itself, one should right-click on an empty part of the page, click "Edit Site Preferences", then "Network".

My "send referrer information" is already unchecked, but for some reason, I've noticed it only works around 50% of the time.

Next, I've gone to the scroll-down option of "Mask as Firefox", and refreshed the url address you provided.
Tried to sign up via forgotten password, but then it gave me the browser-switch deal again.

This time, I've unchecked "Encode international addresses" and "enable automatic redirection", and maintained Firefox masking.

This allowed the login / bank security screen to show up properly, but then again, if Opera isn't maximized for use with the online bank,
perhaps this also means it may not be as secure as a Firefx or IE browser when transferring your information.

I think I fixed the problem.

But will add: is there such a version as Firefox Lite, because as it seems, FF popularity has caused it to experience the good and bad.
Good: international web standards and webpage compliance is highly-optimized. Bad: too many users, customizations cause it to lag.

I'm sure I heard of a bare-essentials version of FF before; perhaps this might serve you better with your online banking transactions.

[jdog]

That worked perfectly! Thanks! As long as the bank shows the lock the entire time I am confident that it is secure. I just don't think that Huntington is going to go the extra mile for a browser with only 1.8% market share of the browser market. :silly: