This Should Work

Now that Opera is free I thought I would give it a spin and see how it compares to the latest from Firefox (I also tried obtaining the beta version of Internet Explorer 7 but you it’s not a public release, Microsoft Developers only).

There are a couple of things I look for in a browser, mostly security and user interface configuration. Both of these browsers offer tons of configuration options; everything from different skins to sidebars and toolbars are all available for you to change. Opera allows user to “zoom” in on a page up to 200%. Opera is able to increase the all the information on the page without any pixelation issues; it a great tool to read the fine print on a page, or if one has sight problems.

Another nice feature included in Opera 8 is the Wand. This is a more than just a password manager, it able to auto-complete web forms as well.
I hate typing in my name and address whenever I register for a site or buy something from the web, this is a great solution to the problem.

Opera, like Firefox, has tabbed browsing. But Opera allows you to organize your tabs in three different ways: cascading, tiled, or panel. Tile is an excellent view for comparing two webpages side by side.

Opera also has a RSS news reader built into the browser, in order to read your feeds you click the “Feeds” button it the toolbar. To subscribe to a feed, click the RSS button in Address Bar. While it works okay as a reader, I prefer the Live Bookmarks in Firefox.

The Live Bookmarks work for me because I can place them in my toolbar and click them to read the headlines.

Using the Live Bookmarks allows me to get the headlines without taking me away from what I was browsing. In the latest release, Firefox has changed the subscription button from the lower-right corner of the window to the far right of the Address Bar.

Both Opera and Firefox include a built-in popup blocker (Internet Explorer 6 has one as well, but you need Windows XP SP2). I went to popuptest.com and tried all 13 tests with each browser set to block all popups. Both performed well on the most common popups, but Firefox blocked all but two of the less common popups (Opera blocked half).

Firefox has made few cosmetic changes in the menus for this latest release, but for the most part the look and feel is same. But the thing that, for me, separates Firefox from Opera is the numerous extensions available for the browser. Entensions like AdBlock and BugMeNot are must haves, while others like Click Weather and Homestar Runner Toolbar are just fun.

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