7 ms·

Opera 11 will have extensions

39 points by aw3c2 16y ago

jasondavies 16y ago
Cool. Opera already supports Greasemonkey-style user scripts [1], as does Google Chrome [2]. They're handy for writing simple browser hacks e.g. injecting additional links into certain pages. [1]: http://www.opera.com/docs/userjs/examples/#greasemonkey http://www.opera.com/docs/userjs/examples/#greasemonkey [2]: http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/user-scripts http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/user-scr...
Tomis 16y ago
Useless for anything except media exposure. Opera already has all the functionality you would need in a browser (as a regular user, at least). This is probably a move for bonus point with Firefox users who can't do sh*t without extensions - again, not the case in Opera. Sorry, that's the harsh truth. Might be good news for advanced users that need to do some esoteric stuff but most people using Opera already have all they will ever need, out of the box.
- ugh 16y ago
  Firefox has everything I need in a Browser. As has Chrome. Or Safari. I don’t need all that stuff Opera can do.
  - Tomis 16y ago
    I call bullshit. Which stuff are you referring to, exactly? How long have you used Opera for, and what features can you name/describe off the top of your head?
    - ugh 16y ago
      Man, Opera fans sure are aggressive. I don’t really know what Opera has to offer and I don’t really know why I should. If Opera is unable to get the message across to someone like me then good luck reaching the rest of humanity. I obviously have Opera on my system but I haven’t opened it for weeks or months. All I see when I open it are non-native controls and features I don’t need and use (those icons in the status bar for example). I prefer something lean and minimal like Chrome or Safari. Maybe you really need that feature that only Opera has – use Opera and be happy! Just don’t expect that the rest of humanity is exactly like you.
      - Tomis 16y ago
        How am I aggressive? Sorry for the slang I used, too much reddit in my system; I did not mean it to be offensive. Other than that, I am asking an honest question. If you don't know that a feature exists (and Opera has a lot of features but it doesn't shove them in your face) how exactly do you know you don't need it. Obviously Opera has crap marketing but that's because it assumes intelligent users that will bother to take 10 seconds and read about its features. Here, if you want a quick fix: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_browser_features http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_browser_features You say you prefer something lean and minimal. How exactly is Opera slow and bloated by comparison? If you haven't used it for a couple of weeks and learned what it can do I think you're passing judgment too easily. Opera has a lot of great stuff other browser don't have, you just need to be a bit curios and not wait the information to be spoon-fed to you. I don't have a problem with you or anyone else using another browser but I don't like people saying things without full knowledge of the facts.
    - points 16y ago
      Tools->Mail and Chat accounts? rly? I thought the idea of an all in one internet behemoth died with Netscape Communicator. Opera Unite? what? why? I just want a web browser. I don't want a web server or file sharing solution. This is the main reason I don't run Opera apart from testing - I just want a fast small browser. Also I find the UI and rendering to look cluttered and a bit second rate. Great to see Opera is getting websocket though: http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2010/10/11/websockets http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2010/10/11/websockets
      - Tomis 16y ago
        Hardly a behemoth since I can run more tabs on Opera at the same time than on any other browser. Granted, I have quite an old computer but it's perfect for spotting differences between browsers. For others this is probably not an issue. I use the mail client for my GMail and RSS feeds. Try it and tell me if you notice anything wrong with it. Actually I've been using the integrated client for so long that my perception about stand-alone mail clients is that they're a thing of the past. I guess it's just a matter of perspective, but for me it's far more convenient to open my browser and not think about checking my mail (it lets me know if new mail has arrived). I don't use Opera Unite and nobody is forcing me to. It just stays out of my way, and so do the other features. Keep only what you like; just because they're there if you need them doesn't mean they slow you down.
        points 16y ago
        I agree @ stand alone mail clients, but I'm betting on webapps. GMail really is a great webapp.
      - yread 16y ago
        Opera Unite is actually seriously awesome. Faster sharing than uploading somewhere or sending through skype. You can give a person access to some photos without the whole internet seeing it, without having to upload lots of huge pictures or without using the crappy facebook uploader
        16y ago
  - Tomis 16y ago
    You know what the greatest common divisor of Firefox, Chrome and Safari is? Internet Explorer 6. That's right Jack, all the functionality you're using in a browser is the one Internet Explorer 6 has. Sadly, most of the people using the browsers you mentioned do the same. The world you live in is the cave mentioned by Plato. You have never went outside and see there's so much things a browser can do, you're content in your small little world thinking "meh, my browser already has anything I would ever need". Wrong. You could use a better interaction with the browser, you could use some extra features to make your life easier and stop checking your webmail when you have pop3 and smtp. You could have a lot of things if you would just come out of the cave. Sure thing, Firefox has the extensions, but Chrome does not. You're missing out on a lot of functionality that you never knew existed. How are you supposed to know that there is such a thing since you usually search for an extension when you KNOW you need (such as ad-block) but it never occurs to you that you might use a neat clever feature? You're stuck in the dark because you don't know light exists.
    - ugh 16y ago
      Now I’m depressed. I never said that I will never use extensions. I never said that I will never use Opera. I have Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Opera on my HDD and ready to go. If somebody on HN or anywhere else tells me about a cool new extension or a cool new feature I will of course want to try it out. I love doing that, I really do! It’s just that for my day to day usage I have until now always returned to vanilla Safari [+]. That’s just how it is and I can’t change it. That’s how I like it best. [+] The only extension I have installed is ClickToFlash.
    - Tomis 16y ago
      @ugh - nevermind, it's a miscommunication issue; I'm sorry for my harsh tone. Whatever browser you use try mouse gestures. Here is a quick tutorial for Opera - http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/gestures/ http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/gestures/ And also in Opera you can go back/forward by using the following combos: 1. press right mouse button 2. left click 3. release right button (back) 1. press left mb 2. right click 3. release left mb (forward)
- gommm 16y ago
  The only reason I'm not using Opera is because it doesn't support 1password... I really liked that browser, I've used it long before Firefox came out but after switching to Mac, at first Opera on Mac wasn't great and now, well it's missing 1password... So having extensions is great news for me...
  - Tomis 16y ago
    I haven't used 1password so I don't know all the features it has but Opera's Wand has password storage (fills username/password for the pages you want). Not sure if that's all you need.
    - gommm 16y ago
      Yes, I used Opera's wand before, the big plus of 1password is the fact that it works with Safari, Firefox and can be synced to my iphone... I don't want my passwords to be tied to a browser... Also with 1password, I just tell it to generate the password for me and so I always have completely random passwords for all websites I visit...
cninja 16y ago
This seemed to be the main excuse that people had for not trying out Opera in the past, but people already have their favorite browser by this point. Without a significant marketing campaign, I don't see Opera's browser share changing significantly with version 11.
- cryptoz 16y ago
  > but people already have their favorite browser by this point I disagree. People were saying that in 2009 before Google Chrome really became popular. Now people are switching from FF to chrome all the time for a number of reasons. If Opera brings new things to the table, people very well may switch. The browser wars are not over.
  - bruceboughton 16y ago
    Chrome was new and shiny; the Opera brand is anything but. There was also a massive marketing push from Google (on the Tube in London, for example).
  - Tomis 16y ago
    Google has a lot of money (and more importantly, exposure) to push their browser forward and make ridiculously huge marketing campaigns. Opera does not.
    - cryptoz 16y ago
      Opera's net income in 2008 was about $90 million. And that's from about half a billion dollars in revenue that year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Software Yes, Google is much bigger. But don't suggest Opera is poor.
      - zck 16y ago
        That's not U.S. dollars, that's kroner. On December 31, 2008, that was $13 million on $71 million revenue (http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter/#from=NOK;to=USD http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter/#from=NOK;to=USD ; change the date to get historical data).
whatusername 16y ago
Open Question for any Opera users out there: Why should I go and use Opera? With Firefox for extensions and Chrome for performance; I'm not sure I need another browser. What benefit does Opera give you? Why do you use it?
- Tomis 16y ago
  Well instead of using two browsers (Fx and Chrome), mail/rss/chat client, a (very simple) torrent client and a note tracker (and some other software), you can simply use the unified package - Opera. Firefox is dead slow if you add all the needed functionality build in Opera and Chrome doesn't have much going for it (speed-wise check the benchmarks; and Opera is very responsive when I keep my 50+ tabs open, whereas Chrome cannot handle the load, freezes the computer and uses a huge amount of memory). Oh, by the way, the Opera default is "restore previous session" and it does not close all your tabs when you close the browser so you are encouraged to have one continuous browsing experience; I've been keeping some tabs open for years. Just a sneak peek.
  - sirn 16y ago
    Reminds me of an old JWZ's quote: "Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can." I think all Opera's extra goodies are good only if you expect 75% of functionalities. E.g. Opera Chat still don't support encoding fallback (X-chat, IRSSI, mIRC, etc. does), or it is not very obvious to disable the built-in BitTorrent client (disable it in `about:config` by yourself), Opera Link that only merge two bookmarks together, requiring me to manually delete all default bookmarks before (or after) syncing, etc. But it is a really good browser: fast, has minimum resource usage. I wish there is Opera Lite. (And hope Opera team to finally fix Asian language support.)
    - Tomis 16y ago
      I agree, if you go for dedicated clients (irc, mail, rss) you will get more power/functionality if you need them; but I feel that in Opera I get the optimal balance between functionality and complexity. To each his own. Still, I don't understand what benefits are to explicitly disabling Opera's built-in torrent client; why not use something else?
metamemetics 16y ago
Why you should care about Opera: 1. More minimal interface than Chrome. New-tab Speed-dial can be a solid background [or image] with no extra cruft. Unlike Chrome which adds bookmarks, recently closed, help links etc. 2. Equivalent performance to Chrome including JavaScript. 3. Firefox-isms while offering chrome performance. Aka Pop-in sidebars for downloads and history rather than new tabs. 5. CTRL-Tabbing is similar to operating system alt-tabbing. You don't even need a tab bar occupying screen real estate. 6. Password manager light-up button is a superior user experience to saved password autocomplete in Chrome and Firefox. 7. Right click mouse gestures. [and fully navigable keyboard only]
- samstokes 16y ago
  Does Opera have an Awesome Bar (i.e. find-as-you-type in the address bar autocompleting from browser history and bookmarks)? Does that integrate with Delicious? That's probably the biggest reason I stick with Firefox. Chrome's autocompletion doesn't compare (it only does prefix search on the URLs or entire page titles, whereas Firefox does infix search on URLs and words in titles, which makes it much easier to recall a given page).
  - metamemetics 16y ago
    Yes! [to first question. can't comment on 2nd because I don't have a delicious account and am not sure how well pre-existing widgets work for it] [ http://widgets.opera.com/search/?order=name&q=del.icio.us http://widgets.opera.com/search/?order=name&q=del.icio.u... http://widgets.opera.com/search/?order=name&q=delicious http://widgets.opera.com/search/?order=name&q=delicious] [Opera's Awesome Bar is so Awesome it does intext searching too. Ex. If I have an HN page in my history containing a link called "blah ... analytics ... blah" that I never clicked on, I can still find the HN page containing that link by simply typing "analytics"]
  - endtime 16y ago
    Well..."Opera 11 will have extensions" so probably.
    - 16y ago
DanHulton 16y ago
I was an Opera fan for-frickin'-ever, but I switch to Chrome just recently. Opera's been light-years ahead of most in the browser industry, but then Things Just Stopped Working. Updating my browser for any reason would mean that bookmark syncronizing stopped for a few days until I figured out why it was broken this time, then I had to manually re-sync my bookmarks. It has a bunch of features I don't use (torrent client, chat client, mail client, Opera Unite), isn't supported as well, so you run into render problems from time to time, and hasn't copied some of the REALLY good ideas from its competitors, despite having ample time to do so (when I close a tab, I expect the next tab close button to align itself automatically under my mouse button like Chrome). Opera's my #2 fave browser, but that doesn't mean it really gets any use. I use Chrome for browsing, Firefox for developing, IE for testing, and Opera... Opera, we had a good run. But it's over. I'm sure you'll find someone new.

39 points by aw3c2 16y ago

Cool. Opera already supports Greasemonkey-style user scripts [1], as does Google Chrome [2]. They're handy for writing simple browser hacks e.g. injecting additional links into certain pages. [1]: http://www.opera.com/docs/userjs/examples/#greasemonkey http://www.opera.com/docs/userjs/examples/#greasemonkey [2]: http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/user-scripts http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/user-scr...

Tomis 16y ago

Useless for anything except media exposure. Opera already has all the functionality you would need in a browser (as a regular user, at least). This is probably a move for bonus point with Firefox users who can't do sh*t without extensions - again, not the case in Opera. Sorry, that's the harsh truth. Might be good news for advanced users that need to do some esoteric stuff but most people using Opera already have all they will ever need, out of the box.

ugh 16y ago
Firefox has everything I need in a Browser. As has Chrome. Or Safari. I don’t need all that stuff Opera can do.
- Tomis 16y ago
  I call bullshit. Which stuff are you referring to, exactly? How long have you used Opera for, and what features can you name/describe off the top of your head?
  - ugh 16y ago
    Man, Opera fans sure are aggressive. I don’t really know what Opera has to offer and I don’t really know why I should. If Opera is unable to get the message across to someone like me then good luck reaching the rest of humanity. I obviously have Opera on my system but I haven’t opened it for weeks or months. All I see when I open it are non-native controls and features I don’t need and use (those icons in the status bar for example). I prefer something lean and minimal like Chrome or Safari. Maybe you really need that feature that only Opera has – use Opera and be happy! Just don’t expect that the rest of humanity is exactly like you.
    - Tomis 16y ago
      How am I aggressive? Sorry for the slang I used, too much reddit in my system; I did not mean it to be offensive. Other than that, I am asking an honest question. If you don't know that a feature exists (and Opera has a lot of features but it doesn't shove them in your face) how exactly do you know you don't need it. Obviously Opera has crap marketing but that's because it assumes intelligent users that will bother to take 10 seconds and read about its features. Here, if you want a quick fix: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_browser_features http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_browser_features You say you prefer something lean and minimal. How exactly is Opera slow and bloated by comparison? If you haven't used it for a couple of weeks and learned what it can do I think you're passing judgment too easily. Opera has a lot of great stuff other browser don't have, you just need to be a bit curios and not wait the information to be spoon-fed to you. I don't have a problem with you or anyone else using another browser but I don't like people saying things without full knowledge of the facts.
  - points 16y ago
    Tools->Mail and Chat accounts? rly? I thought the idea of an all in one internet behemoth died with Netscape Communicator. Opera Unite? what? why? I just want a web browser. I don't want a web server or file sharing solution. This is the main reason I don't run Opera apart from testing - I just want a fast small browser. Also I find the UI and rendering to look cluttered and a bit second rate. Great to see Opera is getting websocket though: http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2010/10/11/websockets http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2010/10/11/websockets
    - Tomis 16y ago
      Hardly a behemoth since I can run more tabs on Opera at the same time than on any other browser. Granted, I have quite an old computer but it's perfect for spotting differences between browsers. For others this is probably not an issue. I use the mail client for my GMail and RSS feeds. Try it and tell me if you notice anything wrong with it. Actually I've been using the integrated client for so long that my perception about stand-alone mail clients is that they're a thing of the past. I guess it's just a matter of perspective, but for me it's far more convenient to open my browser and not think about checking my mail (it lets me know if new mail has arrived). I don't use Opera Unite and nobody is forcing me to. It just stays out of my way, and so do the other features. Keep only what you like; just because they're there if you need them doesn't mean they slow you down.
      - points 16y ago
        I agree @ stand alone mail clients, but I'm betting on webapps. GMail really is a great webapp.
    - yread 16y ago
      Opera Unite is actually seriously awesome. Faster sharing than uploading somewhere or sending through skype. You can give a person access to some photos without the whole internet seeing it, without having to upload lots of huge pictures or without using the crappy facebook uploader
      - 16y ago
- Tomis 16y ago
  You know what the greatest common divisor of Firefox, Chrome and Safari is? Internet Explorer 6. That's right Jack, all the functionality you're using in a browser is the one Internet Explorer 6 has. Sadly, most of the people using the browsers you mentioned do the same. The world you live in is the cave mentioned by Plato. You have never went outside and see there's so much things a browser can do, you're content in your small little world thinking "meh, my browser already has anything I would ever need". Wrong. You could use a better interaction with the browser, you could use some extra features to make your life easier and stop checking your webmail when you have pop3 and smtp. You could have a lot of things if you would just come out of the cave. Sure thing, Firefox has the extensions, but Chrome does not. You're missing out on a lot of functionality that you never knew existed. How are you supposed to know that there is such a thing since you usually search for an extension when you KNOW you need (such as ad-block) but it never occurs to you that you might use a neat clever feature? You're stuck in the dark because you don't know light exists.
  - ugh 16y ago
    Now I’m depressed. I never said that I will never use extensions. I never said that I will never use Opera. I have Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Opera on my HDD and ready to go. If somebody on HN or anywhere else tells me about a cool new extension or a cool new feature I will of course want to try it out. I love doing that, I really do! It’s just that for my day to day usage I have until now always returned to vanilla Safari [+]. That’s just how it is and I can’t change it. That’s how I like it best. [+] The only extension I have installed is ClickToFlash.
  - Tomis 16y ago
    @ugh - nevermind, it's a miscommunication issue; I'm sorry for my harsh tone. Whatever browser you use try mouse gestures. Here is a quick tutorial for Opera - http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/gestures/ http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/gestures/ And also in Opera you can go back/forward by using the following combos: 1. press right mouse button 2. left click 3. release right button (back) 1. press left mb 2. right click 3. release left mb (forward)
gommm 16y ago
The only reason I'm not using Opera is because it doesn't support 1password... I really liked that browser, I've used it long before Firefox came out but after switching to Mac, at first Opera on Mac wasn't great and now, well it's missing 1password... So having extensions is great news for me...
- Tomis 16y ago
  I haven't used 1password so I don't know all the features it has but Opera's Wand has password storage (fills username/password for the pages you want). Not sure if that's all you need.
  - gommm 16y ago
    Yes, I used Opera's wand before, the big plus of 1password is the fact that it works with Safari, Firefox and can be synced to my iphone... I don't want my passwords to be tied to a browser... Also with 1password, I just tell it to generate the password for me and so I always have completely random passwords for all websites I visit...

cninja 16y ago

This seemed to be the main excuse that people had for not trying out Opera in the past, but people already have their favorite browser by this point. Without a significant marketing campaign, I don't see Opera's browser share changing significantly with version 11.

cryptoz 16y ago
> but people already have their favorite browser by this point I disagree. People were saying that in 2009 before Google Chrome really became popular. Now people are switching from FF to chrome all the time for a number of reasons. If Opera brings new things to the table, people very well may switch. The browser wars are not over.
- bruceboughton 16y ago
  Chrome was new and shiny; the Opera brand is anything but. There was also a massive marketing push from Google (on the Tube in London, for example).
- Tomis 16y ago
  Google has a lot of money (and more importantly, exposure) to push their browser forward and make ridiculously huge marketing campaigns. Opera does not.
  - cryptoz 16y ago
    Opera's net income in 2008 was about $90 million. And that's from about half a billion dollars in revenue that year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Software Yes, Google is much bigger. But don't suggest Opera is poor.
    - zck 16y ago
      That's not U.S. dollars, that's kroner. On December 31, 2008, that was $13 million on $71 million revenue (http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter/#from=NOK;to=USD http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter/#from=NOK;to=USD ; change the date to get historical data).

whatusername 16y ago

Open Question for any Opera users out there: Why should I go and use Opera? With Firefox for extensions and Chrome for performance; I'm not sure I need another browser. What benefit does Opera give you? Why do you use it?

Tomis 16y ago
Well instead of using two browsers (Fx and Chrome), mail/rss/chat client, a (very simple) torrent client and a note tracker (and some other software), you can simply use the unified package - Opera. Firefox is dead slow if you add all the needed functionality build in Opera and Chrome doesn't have much going for it (speed-wise check the benchmarks; and Opera is very responsive when I keep my 50+ tabs open, whereas Chrome cannot handle the load, freezes the computer and uses a huge amount of memory). Oh, by the way, the Opera default is "restore previous session" and it does not close all your tabs when you close the browser so you are encouraged to have one continuous browsing experience; I've been keeping some tabs open for years. Just a sneak peek.
- sirn 16y ago
  Reminds me of an old JWZ's quote: "Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can." I think all Opera's extra goodies are good only if you expect 75% of functionalities. E.g. Opera Chat still don't support encoding fallback (X-chat, IRSSI, mIRC, etc. does), or it is not very obvious to disable the built-in BitTorrent client (disable it in `about:config` by yourself), Opera Link that only merge two bookmarks together, requiring me to manually delete all default bookmarks before (or after) syncing, etc. But it is a really good browser: fast, has minimum resource usage. I wish there is Opera Lite. (And hope Opera team to finally fix Asian language support.)
  - Tomis 16y ago
    I agree, if you go for dedicated clients (irc, mail, rss) you will get more power/functionality if you need them; but I feel that in Opera I get the optimal balance between functionality and complexity. To each his own. Still, I don't understand what benefits are to explicitly disabling Opera's built-in torrent client; why not use something else?

metamemetics 16y ago

Why you should care about Opera: 1. More minimal interface than Chrome. New-tab Speed-dial can be a solid background [or image] with no extra cruft. Unlike Chrome which adds bookmarks, recently closed, help links etc. 2. Equivalent performance to Chrome including JavaScript. 3. Firefox-isms while offering chrome performance. Aka Pop-in sidebars for downloads and history rather than new tabs. 5. CTRL-Tabbing is similar to operating system alt-tabbing. You don't even need a tab bar occupying screen real estate. 6. Password manager light-up button is a superior user experience to saved password autocomplete in Chrome and Firefox. 7. Right click mouse gestures. [and fully navigable keyboard only]

samstokes 16y ago
Does Opera have an Awesome Bar (i.e. find-as-you-type in the address bar autocompleting from browser history and bookmarks)? Does that integrate with Delicious? That's probably the biggest reason I stick with Firefox. Chrome's autocompletion doesn't compare (it only does prefix search on the URLs or entire page titles, whereas Firefox does infix search on URLs and words in titles, which makes it much easier to recall a given page).
- metamemetics 16y ago
  Yes! [to first question. can't comment on 2nd because I don't have a delicious account and am not sure how well pre-existing widgets work for it] [ http://widgets.opera.com/search/?order=name&q=del.icio.us http://widgets.opera.com/search/?order=name&q=del.icio.u... http://widgets.opera.com/search/?order=name&q=delicious http://widgets.opera.com/search/?order=name&q=delicious] [Opera's Awesome Bar is so Awesome it does intext searching too. Ex. If I have an HN page in my history containing a link called "blah ... analytics ... blah" that I never clicked on, I can still find the HN page containing that link by simply typing "analytics"]
- endtime 16y ago
  Well..."Opera 11 will have extensions" so probably.
  - 16y ago

DanHulton 16y ago

I was an Opera fan for-frickin'-ever, but I switch to Chrome just recently. Opera's been light-years ahead of most in the browser industry, but then Things Just Stopped Working. Updating my browser for any reason would mean that bookmark syncronizing stopped for a few days until I figured out why it was broken this time, then I had to manually re-sync my bookmarks. It has a bunch of features I don't use (torrent client, chat client, mail client, Opera Unite), isn't supported as well, so you run into render problems from time to time, and hasn't copied some of the REALLY good ideas from its competitors, despite having ample time to do so (when I close a tab, I expect the next tab close button to align itself automatically under my mouse button like Chrome). Opera's my #2 fave browser, but that doesn't mean it really gets any use. I use Chrome for browsing, Firefox for developing, IE for testing, and Opera... Opera, we had a good run. But it's over. I'm sure you'll find someone new.