Travails with Mozilla Firefox has made me look further than Google Chrome for an alternate browser in my Linux machines. And obviously, I ended up with an old mainstay, the Opera browser.
My experience with Opera over the years has always been disappointing. In previous releases, it had trouble opening "complex" pages like www.newsarama.com, www.digg.com, and several other sites that Firefox had no problems displaying. However, with Opera 12 several hops ahead of the last version I tried, I decided to give it a shot.
I recently installed Opera 12 on Linux and Windows 7 warily but found it to be a revelation - it takes advantage of the broadband speed quite well and gone are the poorly displayed web pages. Having used it regularly for several weeks now, I came up with a list of reasons to keep Opera 12 running on my network:
1. Back-up browser. A system should always have a back up browser and even if you prefer Google Chrome or Chromium on your Linux box, Opera provides professional-level features and a surprisingly consistent experience across all platforms. Plus, it's available everywhere –from smartphones to desktops and to tablets.
2. For Linux users, Opera has several binary packages already available. Not even the popular Google Chrome has this number of options for installation on Linux. The developers have prepared a variety of options for installation on Linux, ensuring consistency and a smooth installation process. It's pretty impressive - not many applications can boast that many options. The ability to download the browser directly from the developer while bypassing the repositories also ensures the latest build.
3. Firefox is no longer dependable. A recent article in BBC discussed the Flash problems of the once infallible browser. Mozilla Firefox is still the de facto browser in Linux distributions though I'm beginning to think it shouldn't be. Besides obvious problems with Adobe Flash, Firefox has not been very dependable in displaying web pages I've been visiting for the last half decade. Its clean interface notwithstanding, I noticed a regression in Firefox's performance and stability. All I really need is a browser that can pull up pages.
4. Opera 12.x is a great secondary browser to Internet Explorer 9. Let's face it, Internet Explorer 9 is actually a pretty good browser for Windows and it's now a better option than Firefox. For serious online tasks, Opera 12.x carries professional-level security. It's scary to admit, but if you ever needed IE 9.0 in Linux, Opera would be it.
5. Full-featured plus the kitchen sink. I'm not a browser power-user so tab and bookmark management, a speed dial, password/download managers, and extensions aren't that important to me - but Opera has them plus a torrent manager, an integrated e-mail client, Opera Link, and Opera Turbo (though performance varies based on location and it doesn't work well in Shanghai, China).
6. Recover closed tabs button. The ability to reopen closed pages is the only feature I really, really need on a browser since I have a tendency to want to pull up a web site I just closed. The feature comes standard on Opera and is easily accessible next to the search bar.
7. Auto-rename of downloaded files. If you download a file with a similar name (for example, from porn sites . . . *ahem*), Opera will automatically tack on a number. Firefox and IE will prompt you to rename the files manually. When it comes to browser features, it's the small conveniences that really count.
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