Opera is based in Norway, which has some of the strictest privacy law in the world. Your data is probably safer with Opera than with your own ISP.
And yet you trust your ISP?
Opera has a great track record when it comes to privacy and security.
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Opera Submits Browser App to Apple, Starts Countdown
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Opera has a great track record when it comes to privacy and security.
No, they genuinely want to be on the iPhone because there's a large and untapped user base there for them.
Yes, that's how they make money. And they have some default links which you can remove, and which they are probably getting paid for too.
No, it does support JavaScript. Some Ajax might not work as well as on a normal browser, but most of it does work.
Not at all. Just look at how AT&T is struggling to keep their network up. So they licensed Opera's compression technology to get more users over on Opera Mini so that their network could handle more users.
Opera Mini is faster than other browsers on anything but a perfect WiFi connection or so. You'll also save money if you don't have an unlimited data plan.
It does support JS and Ajax to a certain extent. Here's some slightly outdated info:
http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/javascript-support-in-opera-mini-4/
This looks great for EDGE or slow public WiFi, but on my home Wifi and on 3G, Safari is plenty fast. I don't see a NEED for another browser, but competition is always good.
Opera Mini already has 50 million users. I doubt that a few million iPhone users are going to cause any trouble.
What GUI elements? All you have is the toolbar at the bottom while you are viewing the page. All those other toolbars only show up when you need them. And you can set it to fullscreen anyway.
No, you just tap where you want to zoom in, and that's it!
No, it does support JavaScript, and even Ajax to a certain extent.
Opera is based in Norway, which has some of the strictest privacy laws in the world. Your data is safer at Opera than at most American companies, I would guess.
It's already free for all other platforms, and with more than 50 million existing users.+
No, those tests are the ones that are usually used when testing performance. So no cherry-picking at all. Opera is just using the same benchmarks as everyone else.
And notice how Opera is the only browser vendor without its own benchmark suite. They are using Apple's (SunSpider) and Google's (V8).
Which one might that be? Chrome used to be the fastest at all those tests. Now Opera is the fastest.
On the contrary, Opera has traditionally been the fastest browser. Then Apple introduced JIT, and Opera lagged for a year or so, but now it's back as the fastest browser.
Huh? You mean like Apple is doing sweetheart deals with phone operators?
Opera is not only doing deals with operators, but also with OEMs, and free end-user downloads.
The sheer hypocrisy of an Apple fan complaining about a company doing deals with operators is quite amazing.
@iPrep,
You must be working for Opera, since you take way too much time for answering anything related to, and apparently limited to posts about Opera only.
You must be working for Opera, since you take way too much time for answering anything related to, and apparently limited to posts about Opera only.
I have tried it when it was released, since I was forced to used my PC at the time. And it's not faster than Safari, Chrome or Camino (indirect comparison) by any stretch of the imagination. Doesn't matter if it uses the Webkit engine. It's come from "dead slow" to "acceptably slow", but it still is slow.
Except Opera Mini's server-side caching means Opera has all your data, where you've been, where you're going, who you bank with and you might want to think carefully about that before using it where privacy matters.
The only one getting pwned by Opera Mini here is the customer.
That's actually what I thought, and that would've explained why it would've been faster. But I guess that's why it isn't, it may have a new javascript engine, but javascript ain't everything, especially when you have a slow, clunky and incompatible engine such as Presto on the inside.
Opera 10.50 (still Beta on Macs) doesn't use webkit but that doesn't change the reality that it simply is not the fastest browser.
To get the "speed" they claim you must want web content compressed to a blurry mess and not care about privacy.
For Javascript, they're slower than a Webkit nightly. The UI is terrible on the Mac. I don't understand why it continues to be so byzantine since it's cleaned up on the PC.
To get the "speed" they claim you must want web content compressed to a blurry mess and not care about privacy.
For Javascript, they're slower than a Webkit nightly. The UI is terrible on the Mac. I don't understand why it continues to be so byzantine since it's cleaned up on the PC.
Are yu a web developer, computer programmer, software engineer or in any way an authority on the subject? Or are you just a consumer with no expertise on this kind of stuff?
BTW - There are SEVERAL alternative browsers already in the app store. I personally use Perfect Browser for a lot of things... and guess what? The main advantage it has over Safari is that it can Compress Pages!
How does it do it? It uses Google's mobile compression capability (for instance try this: http://www.google.com/gwt/x?u=http://www.macrumors.com ). This is really similar to what Opera is doing.
So why does Apple allow it? Because it still uses Webkit to render the pages. It doesn't implement a new interpreter... it's just a new interface to the same webpage renderer in Safari.
Does anyone know of Opera is using Webkit as well? If they are there is no reason to reject the app!
How does it do it? It uses Google's mobile compression capability (for instance try this: http://www.google.com/gwt/x?u=http://www.macrumors.com ). This is really similar to what Opera is doing.
So why does Apple allow it? Because it still uses Webkit to render the pages. It doesn't implement a new interpreter... it's just a new interface to the same webpage renderer in Safari.
Does anyone know of Opera is using Webkit as well? If they are there is no reason to reject the app!
As a consumer. I don't see why would I need to be a programmer. Opera is the only browser which has caused so many website compatibility issues to me. And I don't see how that could be related to the javascript engine, so...?
Though I understand Apple having a rule about not allowing similar Apps on the iPhone that already ships with it, realistically, how can they say no? It would be like Microsoft not letting any other browser other than Internet Explorer run under windows. MS already got in big enough trouble by forcing Netscape out of business by bundling windows with IE - can you imagine what would have happened if MS didnt even allow another browser to be used? That sounds like what Apple is trying to do here.
Sigh. Really?
Come on people! How many times have we been over this.
1. If you are NOT a monopoly you can do what you want.
2. Apple does NOT have a monopoly on mobile phone operating systems.
3. IF Apple does gain a full monopoly on mobile phone operating systems _then_ they can be required by governments to allow competitors products.
4. UNTIL that happens see #1
Now... whether or not it is good for Apple's business to deny their customers these kinds of apps is another question altogether...
Considering you don't know how a JavaScript engine or web browserr works I will not even consider your opinion over much more qualified ones.
Ehm, you don't need to be a programmer to know how they work? Just like you don't need to be a video editor to know how a green screen works, be a *insertjobhere* to know how how plasma and LCDs work etc.
Then please, enlighten the rest of us. Describe the mechanisms of the engines and why, specifically, Safari is faster than Opera.