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Download Opera
It is fast, rugged, reliable, small and yet feature-packed.
I have downloaded full browsers many times from the 'net and I was expecting the procedure to take quite a long time. I was gobsmacked at how fast it was downloaded and yet how many features it had.
What are the best things about Opera?
1] It isn't a Microsoft product.
2] It isn't a Microsoft product.
3] It isn't a Microsoft product.
4] Tabbed browsing, multiple document interface, or single document interface, or both at the same time, it's flexible! Open a page in a tab, then if you decide you want it in a full window you just pick it up and drop it on the desktop. You really have to play with the thing to see just how flexible it can be.
5] Built in pop-up suppression. I can't remember doing very much to stop pop-ups appearing, it was either configured correctly from the start or worked right the first time I asked it to do it.
6] It doesn't hide secret files and your browsing history away where you can't find them, or clean them away. You don't need to buy any digital snakeoil to “maintain your privacy”, if you need to delete private data you can do so with a few clicks.
7] Notes facility on the sidebar. Autosave notes from pages as you search them. It is difficult to appreciate just how useful this facility can be until you try it. Highlight some text on a page and just hit the shift key along with the Control C and you haven't just copied the stuff to the clipboard, it is copied into notes and automatically saved, could research be any easier?
8] Customizable search facility, you choose which search engine to rely on, and you can change back again.
9] Skinning. Change the look of your browser with downloadable skins. Have it your own way.
10] Cookie management, get full control of cookies.
11] Password and log-in storage and automated form filling.
12] Secure. Transport layer security, SSL 2 and 3 built in. Whatever that means, peace of mind I suppose.
13] Downloading files is easy and intuitive with the download manager.
14] It doesn't need a computer you bought last week to run, it doesn't take up much disk space and it does not demand the latest processors or huge amounts of RAM.
It does more with less.
15] It can be configured with a free spell checker built-in which can spell check the contents of any text box. With Opera there is no excuse for not spelling correctly while online.
16] Did I say it isn't a Microsoft product?
17] You can shout at it. It can be configured for voice commands.
18] Full screen browsing, removes every trace of browser screen furniture.
19] Bookmarks rather than Favorites (sic).
20] A download manager that works in the background, rapidly and efficiently without stopping you from browsing.
21] Fast forward and rewind buttons that allow you to whiz back and forward through your browsing history a site at a time in addition to the back and forward buttons which work a page at a time. All the while preserving text entered in text boxes and maintaining multiple undo levels.
22] It isn't a Microsoft product.
23] Both tabs and bookmarks show icons related to the webpage, when set up on the page.
24] Multiple levels of zoom always available allowing you to zoom in or out of any webpage, go really close up if text is too small to read or zoom out to see more information on screen. 20% to 1000% zoom available instantly.
25] A recycle bin for old tabs. Did you close a tab by mistake? Pull it out of the recycle bin (reloading the page).
26] User mode and author mode allow you to change the way a page is rendered. If the author of the page had something to say but no talent with colours or an undue fondness for images that blink and jump you can render the page in your way, replacing colours and fonts, blocking images and lots more options. If you are making your own webpages these features allow you to view pages without tables or like a text based browser and so get some idea as to whether your beautiful page can be used by people with old browsers, crude hardware or special needs.
27] It isn't a Microsoft product.
If you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem.
Do you want the World Wide Web and the Internet to be registered trade marks of the Microsoft Corporation?
Join the resistance. You know it makes sense.