Safari users, what prevents you from using Opera?

[clevin]

Only gripe I have with Opera is poor compatibility with certain (many) sites. Apart from that its good.

People saying Opera is the most compatible browser is a classic example of

"If you say a lie enough times it becomes the truth"

I don't have data to make the case, i can only say it depends on the websites you visit, so its really comes down to if it fit your personal usage, in your case, its obviously a no

But,Im not sure if opera's compatibility is much worst than firefox or safari. I can only say that opera has very good w3c standard compatibility, at least as good as any other browser.

The same things I said about Firefox go for Opera as well.

The interface is made in Cocoa, not XUL. Uses the system-wide dictionary. Can access the Services menu. Uses Keychain. Updates come through Software Update. Has access to the text-to-speech service. Drag and drop produces a ghost image of what your dragging instead of an awful looking box. I can drag bookmarks along the bookmarks bar and I can drag them off. The web inspector in Safari 3 rocks.

my friend, you really need to try it out before making judgment, and thats all this post is about.

part of the statement u made is no accurate:

Opera has ghost image when u drag images
opera allows you to access service menu
both firefox and opera allow you to drag re-arrange bookmarks along bookmark toolbar
and both opera and firefox allow you to remember multiple passwors/usernames for same websites, imagine when u have 2,3,4,5 gmail accounts,

firefox 3 is completely written in cocoa.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Okay, I've tried Opera, and here's what I think:

(+) - What I like about Opera

* Very cool Forgery Protection feature, like what IE7 for Windows has. More browsers should adopt this.
* Simple, easy to understand license agreement.
* Works with all common websites I tested it with.
* Nice feature that shows what Opera's doing while loading a page (rendering the document, loading images, etc.).

(-) - What I don't like about Opera

* Why is the Personal Bar at the top, above the toolbar? It looks odd there, somehow.
* Help requires an internet connection - there doesn't appear to be any local help files.
* Slow at rendering the pages I tested it with.
* Preferences system is VERY different from other browsers, and other Mac applications for that matter. It sure takes some getting used to.

 

[clevin]

Okay, I've tried Opera, and here's what I think:

(+) - What I like about Opera

* Very cool Forgery Protection feature, like what IE7 for Windows has. More browsers should adopt this.
* Simple, easy to understand license agreement.
* Works with all common websites I tested it with.
* Nice feature that shows what Opera's doing while loading a page (rendering the document, loading images, etc.).

(-) - What I don't like about Opera

* Why is the Personal Bar at the top, above the toolbar? It looks odd there, somehow.
* Help requires an internet connection - there doesn't appear to be any local help files.
* Slow at rendering the pages I tested it with.
* Preferences system is VERY different from other browsers, and other Mac applications for that matter. It sure takes some getting used to.

hehe, Im glad you tried. I agree its somewhat different from other browsers. and I do no have a solution for that process, its all depends if user feel the good outweight "not good".

Personally I think opera's preference panel needs some cleanup, it too complicated. At the mean time, opera does offer more than other browsers out of box. like mouse gesture, simple adblock, mail, bt, widgets, full page zoom in/out, show/hide images, etc

 

[Lixivial]

Personally I think opera's preference panel needs some cleanup, it too complicated. At the mean time, opera does offer more than other browsers out of box. like mouse gesture, simple adblock, mail, bt, widgets, full page zoom in/out, show/hide images, etc

Agreed. And I will say that I use Opera 25% of the time on Mac OS X and 99% of the time on Windows, so... (ever since it went free).

Following wrldwzrd89's layout:

(+) - What I like about Opera

• Customizable nature of the UI, pre-defined stylesheets and really a great way to utilize stylesheets in general.
• Out-of-the-box featureset.
• Speed Dial
• Skinning, and keyboard shortcuts.
• Memory footprint.
• Universal nature of it -- it's on everything.

(-) - What I dislike about Opera

• Preferences are completely clunky and unintuitive.
• Load time on Mac OS X is atrocious. ~25 bounces in the Dock. (Oddly I just tried this again, and it opened in two bounces.) *
• Lost ground on the whole page rendering speed; it used to be a killer feature.
• Lack of a easy-to-use adblock plugin/filterset. Opera 9 still can utilize the .ini files, I believe, but it's completely unintuitive. And using the "Block Content" is a useless manual effort.
• Lack of integration with OS X Services. *
• Opera's insistence on ignoring defined standards. "opera:config" instead of "about:config" and the UI. It's just annoying.

* = Features that are preventing me from completely jumping ship to Opera.

It kinda has all of the bad of Firefox on OS X without any of the good (extensibility). I love Opera on Windows, because I've all but given up on Firefox, and its memory imprint and performance is awesome on Windows. Once I moved the tab bar below the address bar, I was finally able to use Opera; and it was good timing, too, because it was when Mozilla dropped the Firefox 1.5 bomb.

 

[AlexisV]

The thing is that for most people Safari or Firefox are like a comfy pair of slippers. They are happy where they are and need to be pushed away from either (through a problem, bug or quirk) and enticed towards Opera. So I suppose this thread is trying to push people towards it and open their eyes.

The problem is that Opera would need some fantastic, never seen before features and everything to be perfect to entice people away from the establishment.

 

[AlexH]

I dont have safari at hand right now, do u mean safari 2 will correct your spell automatically like M$ word? or you still need to right click and choose correct spell from context menu?

You still have to right click and select the appropriate spelling, but as soon as you type a misspelled word, it will underline the misspelled word in red. In my experience, Opera doesn't do this. Of course, I could be mistaken, maybe there's an option for it that I'm just not seeing.

The reason I like the whole "underline mistakes as they happen" system is because I would forget to run spell check every time I write something in Opera. I don't want that extra step. I want to know, in real time, where my mistakes are. In my case, it leads to more misspelled words than in Safari.

 

[baggss]

Opera is a fine Browser, and I have used it on and off for some years. I simply find that there is nothing particularly compelling about it to make me want to dump Safari. I like FireFox on the PC, but it's the same story on the Mac.

 

[geese]

I've used Opera solidly on the XP machine at work, and tried it on my Mac. I've grown to like it, but have found myself reverting to IE on some sites, particularly on the HSBC banking site.

The UI is alot better then it used to be, and the Speed Dial feature is wonderful. But it doesnt make me want to shift from Camino to be honest. I've not got around to downloading Firefox at work, so I'll stick with Opera for the time being.

One thing i have noticed about Opera, it doesnt display pages as nicely as Camino- dont ask me why, it just doesnt feel as 'nice'.

 

[syff]

[*]Opera's insistence on ignoring defined standards. "opera:config" instead of "about:config" [...]
[/LIST]

This is one place Opera has improved significantly over the last year. They've hired a bunch of talented mac developers, and are slowly making Opera look and feel like a native mac program. Compare 9.21 to 8.5 on the mac, and you'll see the progress yourself

In a couple of weeks the desktop team will release a preview/beta version of Opera 9.5, which sports an updated rendering engine with improved CSS3 support and better performance, a completely rewritten javascript engine, a better looking standard skin, and lots of other improvements (read more here).

I myself couldn't live without Opera. I live and die by its insane amount of useful keyboard shortcuts, intelligent tab handling, mouse gestures, inline search, mail/RSS client, speed, reliability, memory handling, site preferences, developer features, and the fact that you can customize almost every part of it (user interface, keyboard shortcuts, mouse gestures, custom buttons, user javascript etc.)

By the way, typing about:config in Opera's address bar redirects to opera:config on Opera for Windows - I'm afraid I don't have a mac to test on right now, but since all of Opera's features are cross-platform I reckon the same thing will happen.

 

[OutThere]

I keep a copy of Opera around for testing my web design work, but I don't particularly like using it. The GUI is awkward and sometimes feels like it's 'trying to be different'. I don't have anything against it, I just think Safari is more bare bones and zippy.

I like the fact that Safari is very lean, has a super simple GUI and nothing extra.

PS: I just downloaded the latest version of Opera as I haven't needed it in a while, and it did this (attached image). Cute.

 

[iBookG4user]

I tried Opera a couple months ago and used it for a couple days, it just didn't seem as good as Safari to me. I just prefer Safari I guess.

 

[Counterfit]

I like Opera mini.

 

[yetanotherdave]

Opera's all well and good, it's just not quite as polished. I've used it on windows, then linux and now OS X, but Safari is my browser of choice, and I use Firefox at work (Safari 3 has proxy issues).
I do keep opera around, it's often useful to have multiple browsers (I've got safari, firefox, opera, camino, shiira, flock and even IE5 installed on my mac).
I mostly use opera when I want to view a page without it having been cahced, or use several logins for a site simultaneously without having to log out,
It's also the only browser I managed to get to play this video
http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/523434-0-0-0-121.html
(windows ff and IE, and mac FF and safari failed for some reason)

 

[lamadude]

I like the zoom feature of opera, and the fact that if you fullscreen, its really uses the full screen (including the mac menu bar at the top).
Those 2 features allow me to use the full screen real estate on my 13" macbook screen wich is small enough as it is.
What I don't like is the lack of adblock and other extensions. (I use firefox 95% of the time)
I use safari every once in a while but it doesnt seem to offer anything like ff or opera, it has a fast startup time, that's about the only positive thing i can say about it.

 

[syff]

There is adblock in Opera, but it's somewhat hidden. Right/Ctrl-click and choose "Block content..."

 

[Shadow]

On the PC, Opera is hands-down my favorite browser. Absolutley wonderful. However, on a Mac, its horrible. Although its identicle to the Windows version, the design philosophies greatly differ between Apple (OS X) and Microsoft (Windows). Until they change the GUI (which is what I hate the most about Opera), it will never have a place in my Dock.

 

[widge34]

Okay, I've tried Opera, and here's what I think:

(+) - What I like about Opera

* Very cool Forgery Protection feature, like what IE7 for Windows has. More browsers should adopt this.
* Simple, easy to understand license agreement.
* Works with all common websites I tested it with.
* Nice feature that shows what Opera's doing while loading a page (rendering the document, loading images, etc.).

(-) - What I don't like about Opera

* Why is the Personal Bar at the top, above the toolbar? It looks odd there, somehow.
* Help requires an internet connection - there doesn't appear to be any local help files.
* Slow at rendering the pages I tested it with.
* Preferences system is VERY different from other browsers, and other Mac applications for that matter. It sure takes some getting used to.

This is how my opera looks

 

[Much Ado]

Opera- 30.2 MB

Safari- 6.5 MB

A lean browser is a clean browser.

 

[kresh]

The premise of this thread is very snobbish. It's like you're politely telling me I am a fool for using Safari and you are going to enlighten me and show me the errors of my ways.

I've not tried Opera on Mac, but I wouldn't try it now even if there was no Safari and my only other choice for a browser on OS X was the discontinued MS IE5!

 

[Iamtherealwoody]

Whats keeping me from using firefox or opera?

Safari 3 and Inquisitor!

 

[iCe Cube]

I really like Opera as a browser. I think its the most feature rich browser out there, and its always my first choice when im using windows. On my mac, I tend to use Safari more out of habit, and it generally does enough for me while I have Saft installed as well.

However, I love a few small things that Opera can do straight out the box: things like being able to reopen closed tabs, never opening new windows, the "paste and go" function, the notes and links feature, and various other things.

One of the things that sometimes means I use Opera less is the occasional incompatibility with certain websites. E.g. on Yahoo mail I end up having to type my login details THREE times in THREE separate pages to enter!

The premise of this thread is very snobbish. It's like you're politely telling me I am a fool for using Safari and you are going to enlighten me and show me the errors of my ways.

I've not tried Opera on Mac, but I wouldn't try it now even if there was no Safari and my only other choice for a browser on OS X was the discontinued MS IE5!

Calm the hell down! The original poster is just trying to enlighten other people about a browser that only a tiny fraction of people use, when really more people probably should be using it.

 

[maxrobertson]

I tried it once and it has an unbelievably ugly interface. It's also way too complicated with too many useless (to me) features crammed in.

 

[lOUDsCREAMEr]

the UI is just horrible.

 

[osirisX]

my friend, you really need to try it out before making judgment, and thats all this post is about.

part of the statement u made is no accurate:

Opera has ghost image when u drag images
opera allows you to access service menu
both firefox and opera allow you to drag re-arrange bookmarks along bookmark toolbar
and both opera and firefox allow you to remember multiple passwors/usernames for same websites, imagine when u have 2,3,4,5 gmail accounts,

firefox 3 is completely written in cocoa.

I'll level with you, I haven't really given Opera a go on OS X. You know why, I tried during my Windows days and didn't like it then. I knew I wouldn't like it even more on OS X. I did give Opera a try when I discovered it was installed with one of the Adobe apps and guess what? I was right, I didn't like it.

Let me clarify the bookmarks dragging thing. You can't drag folders on the bar. You can only drag bookmarks. I need to be able to drag both. Also has that disgusting box instead of moving the actual thing.

Firefox 3 may be written in Cocoa, like it should have been from the start, but it is in Alpha at the moment. No thanks. The ghost image looks wrong anyways.

Let me put it bluntly: I don't need themes. I don't need extensions. I don't need multiple username/passwords for websites. I don't need my bookmarks, etc across multiple machines. I don't need a per-download location for each file. I don't need mouse gestures. I don't need a mail client within my browser. I don't need widgets within my browser. I don't need a bitorrent client within my browser. It works fine for me on ALL the sites I visit. I just need a simple web browser that does the job and fits in with OS X. Safari is that browser.

The only thing I like from Opera is the Speed Dial. But I was able to write up my own HTML page to recreate it. Even made it look OS X-ish. The only thing it lacks is the live-updating thumbnails, which I don't need.