Disadvantages, advantages and what I miss in Opera

    Previously, Opera was a very lightweight browser, which many of these people liked. Now it has turned into a whole combine with its own mail client, RSS reader, torrent rocking chair and a bunch of other functions. It would seem that what else is needed for happiness, because everything is already there? But I don’t think so. I will try to describe all the shortcomings of this, be that as it may, wonderful browser that I lack in it and compare it with other browser options. Of course, I do not want to impose my ideas on anyone, but I hope that they will seem interesting to someone.

disadvantages

First, I’d like to point out a few common flaws, not comparing with any other browsers.

1. Overloaded with functions

    Besides the main function of the WEB browser, Opera browser is equipped with the following functions:

• Opera Mail Email / News Client
• The address book
• BitTorrent Peer-to-Peer Network Client *
• RSS Aggregator *
• IRC Client
• Widgets are graphic modules based on HTML technology and working outside the browser window.

    Features such as Opera Link, the download manager, bookmarks make working with the main duty of the browser more pleasant and faster, so their presence, of course, cannot be disputed. But the cancellation of these 6 functions could reduce the launch speed of Opera at times, and the packet size would decrease by four to five megabytes. Moreover, an open tab with a WEB mail interface may well replace the mail client. The address book is in almost any OS in a standard set. The IRC client generally does not understand what is being done here (to me personally). Widgets in the form in which they are now unclear why they are needed.
    I marked the BitTorrent client and aggregator with an asterisk, because I fully admit that 40-50 percent of Opera users use these features, unlike me, so their presence is probably correct.
    In the best case, it was great if these 6 functions were installed at the touch of a button and removed in the same way as the extension, then everyone would be fine. And most importantly, it would be logical, because the email client is an extension for the browser.

Now, let's compare it with the FireFox browser :

2. It is difficult to contribute to the development of the browser.

    I’m sure that if the Fire Fox couldn’t expand due to user-created plugins ( sorry for the tautology), she would not be so popular. Opera understood this and created widgets, but they can not be compared with the capabilities of FireFox extensions. That FireFox, that Opera are free products, so community support is very important, even if they earn quite a lot through advertising. Everyone can improve Mozill’s browser by writing an extension, but what to do to help the Opera? Only offer their ideas to real developers, and this makes them dependent on these developers, which in itself is bad.

And if you look at Google Chrome :

3. Up-to-date

    Perhaps a children's item, but nonetheless important. The concept of a good interface does not stand still, there is always someone who says: “But it would be more convenient than before”. But Opera is already like 10 years (not sure if 10, but still long ) has the same interface with the menus at the top, the status bar at the bottom and the downloads as a separate tab. For example, Chrome’s interface is much better than Opera’s in terms of use: everything is clear, there is nothing superfluous, nice design - it's nice to watch even.

What about the Internet Expoler? :

4. Only 5 letters in the name of the

    Internet Expoler - 15 letters, and in the Opera only 5. This is the only drawback of the Opera compared to IE, which I discovered.

Benefits

Below I have described several functions of the Opera, which are the key arguments to the question: “Why Opera?”. I do not in any way affirm that all these possibilities are available only in Opera, but it is in this browser that everything is available immediately and it is easy and simple to use.

1. Bookmark sync and more
    Perhaps this function is the most important in my choice of browser. I have two computers and each have two operating systems, so this feature is very relevant for me. It seems to me that only because of her one it is already possible to think about switching to Opera from other browsers. And also, the fact that I can edit the bookmarks of the browser on my phone on the computer is very pleasant, that is, when I search for some interesting article, I can add this page to the phone’s bookmark and, while I'm on the bus or metro, read it. Thanks to the Opera for this feature!

2. High speed of operation
    Small moments such as quick transition between tabs, quick application of all settings, quick loading of pages, etc. cannot but please the user. Here, even without superfluous words, everything is clear.

3. Express panel (Speed ​​Dial)
    Opera is the first browser to add this beauty. Unlike Firefox, where a similar function is available as an extension, this panel is implemented very high quality. Now almost all of the most popular browsers, with the exception of Safari, use this detail of quick navigation between sites.

4. Working Ctrl + Z
    Maybe a trifle, but I really like it and I often use it and can not understand why this does not work in other browsers.

5. Blocking site content
    In a browser from Mozilla, this function is implemented using the AdBlock + extension, like. There is nothing to install here and everything works, as they say, out of the box. Yes, how easy it is to use! I advise you not to ignore this feature.

If it were, I would be happy!

    Well, now the bulk of my article, which is why I started this scribble. Maybe employees of Opera Software will hear me, especially since there are several representatives on Habré.

1. “Smart” line for entering the address.
    By this phrase I mean the following: if the user does not write http, ftp at the beginning of the text, or the address is entered in a language other than English, then try to search this text on Google and if the required information matches the site provided by Google then automatically go to this site. This is implemented in FireFox and it’s very good. In the opera, it is necessary to write the letter “g” before the text, but if I write the text in Russian, then I have to switch the layout, add the letter g, and then switch the layout again and then only write.

2. Bookmarking without any questions
    A little annoying is the dialog that appears after clicking on the "Create Bookmark" action. This distracts me from the contents of the page, which I really liked. Moreover, you can implement this as follows: if the user creates a bookmark for a page that is already in the browser’s bookmarks, then simply move this bookmark to the very top. Thus, the user will get what he expects and there will be no unnecessary questions. And if he needs to distribute bookmarks, then he will go into the manager and do everything at once, because it’s all faster than doing it for each bookmark separately.

3. Built-in Twitter client
    I really miss this, or rather, notifications that I would like to see every X minutes about new tweets. Actually, there is nothing more to write here and there is nothing ... I don’t like to go to the Twitter tab when I remember about it and refresh the page.

4. Download separately from the browser.
    I would like to see this function like this: when the browser is started, it is advisable to leave it as it is now, but if the download goes on and the user clicks “quit”, then do not warn him about stopping the download, but make the downloads in a separate dialog as done in Firefox. Especially when there is a built-in BitTorrent client, when large files can be downloaded.

5. Simplified interface
    I never use the top panel with many menus, except sometimes I need to choose an encoding or go to settings. But she always distracts me from the names of the tabs on them. A good example of a good interface: Google Chrome, as I wrote above. I understand that things like “distracting” or “interfering” are second-hand sensations and even subtle, but this is only because we are already used to using a bad interface. And the general impression of using the program is made up of small bricks, which such things are.

6. Common for all OS dialog save files
    I noticed such a feature: in Gnome, Opera uses a system dialog, in KDE3 / KDE4 it’s its own, but very simple and inconvenient, and in Windows I honestly don’t remember, but it seems to be mine too. I would like to see either the same for all systems, but with a very convenient interface (with bookmarks), or a system dialog, but not only in Gnome.

For those who are interested in how Opera looks on my Laptop now (I tried to simplify it as much as possible): So far, these are all thoughts that came to my mind. If you have any ideas and what you are missing from the Opera - write in the comments, and I will add. Thanks for attention! Used materials from Wikipedia