Opera 9 Review
The last year has been the year of the Firefox and there has been so much hype surrounding that browser, that a great browser has gone relatively unnoticed. Opera, long the third or fourth browser in the “browser wars” has recently released version 9 and it is a sight to behold.
Installation
Lightning quick and pleasant - it installed about as quickly as Firefox did. There’s not much to comment on here but there was a lack of options on what you could install. For instance, there is an integrated email client that I didn’t really want because I use another one.
First Impressions
This browser is clean and FAST. It uses little memory compared to Firefox and it feels very polished. It loads instantly from startup on my computer, even without being integrated into Windows. The menus are a little confusing when coming from the Firefox camp, mainly because there is so much here - but once you get used to it, everything makes sense.
Tabs are well done in Opera, and when you create a new tab you get a really cool drop down which lets you access your top accessed sites, Bookmarks, or Home page.
Features and Stuff
Bookmarks and the Management of
The browser automatically brought my Firefox bookmarks over, that was a nice touch. Management of bookmarks is very easy and when you delete a bookmark, Opera stores the bookmark in a file called Trash so you can easily get it back if you accidently deleted it.
Feeds
Opera includes the best management and reading of feeds I’ve seen. All you have to do is click the standard feed icon next to the web address and select the feed you want to subscribe to. It subscribes you and you will now have a bloglines-like service in your browser.
Widgets
Widgets are small, possibly useful, applets that you can load inside your browser. They can keep you up to date with your stocks, the news, let you play a game, and more. I don’t use this feature, but some people may like these Widgets - some look pretty cool.
Wand - Password Saver
Opera has a power password management system called The Wand and it works well for me. It also allows for quick entry of commonly entered data like Address and Name if you so choose.
Easy Settings
If you find a particular site that you don’t or do want to use say cookies for, you can disable and enable functions on very quickly. Just go to the Tools and then Quick Preferences. You will see a list of functions enabled and disabled. You can do this on the fly.
Security
Opera has a terrific security track record - you rarely if ever hear about exploits for this browser. If you’re privacy and system security is important to you, Opera is probably a great choice.
Conclusion
I’ve probably missed some of the features, but this browser has it all and has become my browser of choice. It renders all the pages I visit regularly properly (only had a few problems on some sites) and the Feeds interface is what seals the deal. If you are looking for a fast, powerful, and feature-rich web browser - I suggest you give this latest version of Opera a try.
I give it a 9.5/10
You can download Opera at Opera.com