05-24-2014, 06:35 AM
Good to hear you finally found the source of that memory, Sandy. 
I know I promised my Opera musings Wednesday night, but I was tired. I was on a road trip with my family all day and I got to enjoy a Crunchwrap from Taco Bell.
Anyway....
After using the Chromium-based Opera for a week, I have to eat some of my words regarding my previous position on the new Opera. I still think it's sad that the Opera team decided to ditch their own software and base their new versions on the Chromium code, which is what Google Chrome is based on. Chromium is also used in numerous other browsers like Torch or SRWare Iron, but they aren't as popular. Along with ditching their own program, they also eliminated many of the features that Opera 12 had, such as a built in Torrent client, built-in mail, and a highly customizeable toolbar system.
However, I discovered that the new Opera is not nearly a Chromium clone as I thought it was. The toolbar setup as well as the speed of the browser does indeed show it's Chromium roots, but Opera at least went out of their way to add features that still give it a unique advantage over Chromium or Google Chrome. Bookmarks? Nope. Instead you have your 'Stash', which basically acts the old Bookmarks feature except it's visually appealing... see below.
![[Image: GretaOpera_Stash_052314.jpg]](http://cpd2009.fileburst.com/ImageShare/GretaOpera_Stash_052314.jpg)
Opera also has some sort of menu that Chromium lacks, accessible by the "Opera" menu in the upper left corner. Opera also has it's unique set of extensions. At this point, there aren't that many extensions, but there is an extension available that supposedly allows you to install Chrome Web Store extensions into Opera. Speed Dial also still exists, and works as well as it always has.
One thing about Opera that remains the same is the speed. Opera was always known to be a fast browser, but the new Chromium-base makes it even faster, on par with Google Chrome. Pages load quickly and they hardly suffer from freezing or stuttering. Going back or forward is also very responsive, and throughout this one week of use, I haven't had the browser crash on me once. Adobe Flash is also suprisingly stable to boot.
Unfortunately, Opera doesn't support H.264 MP4 video, which means HTML5 video on YouTube is impossible.
In conclusion, Opera is a very fast and speedy web browser and it beats SeaMonkey in that regard. In turn, you lose extensive customizeability as well as the ability to view most HTML5 video, but the speed and stability are worth it. Opera may be just a variation of Chromium, but it still has that unique charm thanks to all the Opera-specific features present. If you want to use a WebKit browser but don't want to deal with Google, try Opera. You might just like it.
I know I promised my Opera musings Wednesday night, but I was tired. I was on a road trip with my family all day and I got to enjoy a Crunchwrap from Taco Bell.
Anyway....After using the Chromium-based Opera for a week, I have to eat some of my words regarding my previous position on the new Opera. I still think it's sad that the Opera team decided to ditch their own software and base their new versions on the Chromium code, which is what Google Chrome is based on. Chromium is also used in numerous other browsers like Torch or SRWare Iron, but they aren't as popular. Along with ditching their own program, they also eliminated many of the features that Opera 12 had, such as a built in Torrent client, built-in mail, and a highly customizeable toolbar system.
However, I discovered that the new Opera is not nearly a Chromium clone as I thought it was. The toolbar setup as well as the speed of the browser does indeed show it's Chromium roots, but Opera at least went out of their way to add features that still give it a unique advantage over Chromium or Google Chrome. Bookmarks? Nope. Instead you have your 'Stash', which basically acts the old Bookmarks feature except it's visually appealing... see below.
Opera also has some sort of menu that Chromium lacks, accessible by the "Opera" menu in the upper left corner. Opera also has it's unique set of extensions. At this point, there aren't that many extensions, but there is an extension available that supposedly allows you to install Chrome Web Store extensions into Opera. Speed Dial also still exists, and works as well as it always has.
One thing about Opera that remains the same is the speed. Opera was always known to be a fast browser, but the new Chromium-base makes it even faster, on par with Google Chrome. Pages load quickly and they hardly suffer from freezing or stuttering. Going back or forward is also very responsive, and throughout this one week of use, I haven't had the browser crash on me once. Adobe Flash is also suprisingly stable to boot.
Unfortunately, Opera doesn't support H.264 MP4 video, which means HTML5 video on YouTube is impossible.
In conclusion, Opera is a very fast and speedy web browser and it beats SeaMonkey in that regard. In turn, you lose extensive customizeability as well as the ability to view most HTML5 video, but the speed and stability are worth it. Opera may be just a variation of Chromium, but it still has that unique charm thanks to all the Opera-specific features present. If you want to use a WebKit browser but don't want to deal with Google, try Opera. You might just like it.
I love foxes, especially the one in my avatar.
Currently, it's the old-fashioned hymnals broadcast off the local religious station, but I usually wake up to a preacher or political talk I don't care for. I also used oldies music in the past as well, and if push-came-to-shove, the local country station if any of the other stations were off air or broadcasting things that I wouldn't sleep well with.
![[Image: JasperDesktop_Utils_052914.JPG]](http://cpd2009.fileburst.com/ImageShare/JasperDesktop_Utils_052914.JPG)
