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Reasons to Choose Opera over Chrome

34 points by twapi 13y ago

gaelow 13y ago
1 good reason not to: It's not open source.
- atoponce 13y ago
  Neither is Chrome.
  - gaelow 13y ago
    My point being: choose Firefox, or Chromium, or whatever OS alternative.
    - atoponce 13y ago
      Chromium != Chrome
      - vlastik 13y ago
        That's what he said
wnevets 13y ago
not a dumb company? Charging money & embedding ads into your browser when the market leaders didn't sounds pretty dumb to me.
kwestro 13y ago
I'm not convinced. I tried it, and it still sucks to this day.
mtgx 13y ago
It's also not based in US, which could be seen as an advantage now.
tazjin 13y ago
I've been using Opera Next (the preview version of Opera with Blink) for a few weeks now and I would say this is the first time in the history of browsers that I actually like a browser. Chrome has always had a lot of annoying bugs for me (not all of which affect everybody, but in general I seem to attract all bugs in a software if it has any), like sometimes triggering a page load would not do anything for about a minute and then actually load and render in a second. Considering that it's a beta the bug-freeness is pretty amazing, in fact I have only encountered one bug since I started using it - and that one is OS X (Keychain) specific. Edit: Oh, I missed that the final release is out which fixes the bug!
- manojlds 13y ago
  Opera 15 is out
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
ksec 13y ago
I still need tab overflow. Which so far none of the Chromium provides.
- purerandomness 13y ago
  That's basically the reason I'm staying with Firefox. I use Tree Style Tabs [1], however, which gives you a hierarchial view of your opened tabs. [1] https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/ https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/
  - starky 13y ago
    This is the main reason why I can't use any other browser anymore. Opera actually had a similar tab bar built in for quite some time, but it unfortunately didn't have the tree view. They seem to have removed this feature in Opera 15, which means there is no way I am switching browsers any time soon.
tallowen 13y ago
I would have loved to see some of these points compared to the traditional chrome alternative - Firefox. There are many browsers out there that aren't produced by google. Is the assumption that I want a browser that's using blink as its rendering engine?
ewzimm 13y ago
Can we please stop repeating the provably wrong statement that Firefox is too slow to use? Tom's Hardware has recently shown Firefox beating the performance of both Chrome and Opera. No benchmark is absolute, but you can just use it and see for yourself. Also, it still has better extensions. Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/chrome-27-firefox-21-opera-next,3534-12.html http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/chrome-27-firefox-21-ope...
- alipang 13y ago
  Benchmarks are not everything. Firefox feels sluggish and less responsibe when scrolling, switching between tabs, on startup and just in general. This might not be the case one every machine, I don't know, but it's been consistently true for my usage, it just doesn't feel right. Unlike the new Opera I might add, it provides a really great experience. The fact that you can now install chrome plugins did it for me as I was a vimium addict. I think the move to blink was the right move for them.
  - pacomerh 13y ago
    I agree with this, FF might get great benchmark results, but the overall experience is what matters and I still think chrome feels snappier overall.
    - zachlatta 13y ago
      While we're talking about what "feels snappier," why hasn't anyone mentioned Safari. It is, by far, the smoothest browser on my computer. It may not do as well as Chrome in the benchmarks, but the scrolling is a thousand times smoother and everything feels quicker.
      - ewzimm 13y ago
        If the default scrolling isn't to your taste, you might want to try addons like this one for Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/smoothwheel/?src=search https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/smoothwheel/?... Of course, if you're happy with Safari, by all means stick with it.
SomeRandomUser 13y ago
My list (using Opera 15): * Internal pages and tools as pages, specially the downloads manager (I can't stand Firefox's little windows or Chrome's behind-the-scenes crippled manager). * How it handles extensions by default (little buttons to the right of the address bar). * The nested Speed Dial and the Stash. * Off road mode is a really great tool when using slow connections. * Default synchronization (is not an extension). On the other side, v 15 isn't as polished as it should had been before being made publicly available (CTRL+Z doesn't work, no bookmarks, small bugs with the address bar). Anyway, as you can see, most of the benefits are just UI decisions. I just don't like how Firefox or Chrome look and how they display their functionality (which is absolutely subjective).
- MAGZine 13y ago
  aren't points 1, 2, 5 already in chrome, and have been for some times?
  - cbhl 13y ago
    Re 1: You have to know to open the page (in the menu, or at chrome://downloads) -- by default it just shows you the download bar at the bottom of the page where you downloaded the file. Re 2: Parent probably is confused by extensions versus web apps. I find this confusing too, since it's up to the developer to choose which form factor to use when writing the extension/app.
Nux 13y ago
This must be the first time in the recent history (that I remember) when Opera chooses not to release for Linux (and BSDs). Jimmy doesn't like this!
vlastik 13y ago
You can use Chromium. There is no way using closed source Opera is safer than open source Chromium.
cromwellian 13y ago
Just once I wish people would fire up a camera, point it at their browsers, and record their claims of sluggishness. This thread is full of competing claims that their favorite browser is fast, while competitor browser is atrociously slow. Posting system specs would be useful too, there's a chance that slow performance is GPU or driver related, memory related, dependent on other apps you have installed, etc. Some objectivity would be nice for once instead of warring anecdotes.
- decryptthis_NSA 13y ago
  I use Firefox and love it. I suppose it depends on what plugins people use. Or they may have had a bad experience once and let it at that
theREALffuck 13y ago
Oh, so I should use Opera just because it's produced by a cool company? Firefox is Open Source and they champion (or so they say) the cause of a more standardised Internet. Oh, they also raise money to donate to charity. Does that mean I should use Firefox? And speaking of standards: Your typical end-user doesn't give a monkey's about whether all the browsers use the same standards, or whether they all use different engines and different versions of HTML and force web designers to run browser detection algorithms. As long as the page looks good, and loads fast, they'll be happy. Browsing data sync is also available on Google Chrome. And you're mentioning it even though it still hasn't been implemented on Opera 15? Well that's quite something. Saying that "Browser X is better because in the future it will have Y and Z" debases your credibility as a browser user. I don't use Chrome because "in the future it might use quantum computing and fly." I use chrome because it has bookmarks and it has them NOW. I don't have to wait. Last but not least, extensions. Opera is perhaps the one that's lacking the most when it comes to extensions. It is good that they'll start supporting chrome extensions, but that doesn't automatically makes it better than chrome. If anything, it reinforces the idea that it's just a cheap clone of Chrome. So there you have it, at least to me your "5 reasons to choose Opera" post should be renamed "Opera has server-side compression. Yay!". Don't get me wrong, I'm not an Opera hater. In fact, I used to love it. I installed Opera everywhere I could. I showed Opera to a lot of people, and explained to them why I considered it to be the best option. That was one year ago. Today I would recommend Chrome. That's just my point of view, of course. Opera can still improve. That's what I hope, that they will turn Opera 15 into a beast, as fast as Chrome and boasting all the features from the previous versions. But in the interim, I'll stick with Chrome. Is not everything I want in a browser, but it's close enough.

34 points by twapi 13y ago

gaelow 13y ago

1 good reason not to: It's not open source.

atoponce 13y ago
Neither is Chrome.
- gaelow 13y ago
  My point being: choose Firefox, or Chromium, or whatever OS alternative.
  - atoponce 13y ago
    Chromium != Chrome
    - vlastik 13y ago
      That's what he said

wnevets 13y ago

not a dumb company? Charging money & embedding ads into your browser when the market leaders didn't sounds pretty dumb to me.

kwestro 13y ago

I'm not convinced. I tried it, and it still sucks to this day.

mtgx 13y ago

It's also not based in US, which could be seen as an advantage now.

tazjin 13y ago

I've been using Opera Next (the preview version of Opera with Blink) for a few weeks now and I would say this is the first time in the history of browsers that I actually like a browser. Chrome has always had a lot of annoying bugs for me (not all of which affect everybody, but in general I seem to attract all bugs in a software if it has any), like sometimes triggering a page load would not do anything for about a minute and then actually load and render in a second. Considering that it's a beta the bug-freeness is pretty amazing, in fact I have only encountered one bug since I started using it - and that one is OS X (Keychain) specific. Edit: Oh, I missed that the final release is out which fixes the bug!

manojlds 13y ago
Opera 15 is out
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]

ksec 13y ago

I still need tab overflow. Which so far none of the Chromium provides.

purerandomness 13y ago
That's basically the reason I'm staying with Firefox. I use Tree Style Tabs [1], however, which gives you a hierarchial view of your opened tabs. [1] https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/ https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/
- starky 13y ago
  This is the main reason why I can't use any other browser anymore. Opera actually had a similar tab bar built in for quite some time, but it unfortunately didn't have the tree view. They seem to have removed this feature in Opera 15, which means there is no way I am switching browsers any time soon.

tallowen 13y ago

I would have loved to see some of these points compared to the traditional chrome alternative - Firefox. There are many browsers out there that aren't produced by google. Is the assumption that I want a browser that's using blink as its rendering engine?

ewzimm 13y ago

Can we please stop repeating the provably wrong statement that Firefox is too slow to use? Tom's Hardware has recently shown Firefox beating the performance of both Chrome and Opera. No benchmark is absolute, but you can just use it and see for yourself. Also, it still has better extensions. Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/chrome-27-firefox-21-opera-next,3534-12.html http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/chrome-27-firefox-21-ope...

alipang 13y ago
Benchmarks are not everything. Firefox feels sluggish and less responsibe when scrolling, switching between tabs, on startup and just in general. This might not be the case one every machine, I don't know, but it's been consistently true for my usage, it just doesn't feel right. Unlike the new Opera I might add, it provides a really great experience. The fact that you can now install chrome plugins did it for me as I was a vimium addict. I think the move to blink was the right move for them.
- pacomerh 13y ago
  I agree with this, FF might get great benchmark results, but the overall experience is what matters and I still think chrome feels snappier overall.
  - zachlatta 13y ago
    While we're talking about what "feels snappier," why hasn't anyone mentioned Safari. It is, by far, the smoothest browser on my computer. It may not do as well as Chrome in the benchmarks, but the scrolling is a thousand times smoother and everything feels quicker.
    - ewzimm 13y ago
      If the default scrolling isn't to your taste, you might want to try addons like this one for Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/smoothwheel/?src=search https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/smoothwheel/?... Of course, if you're happy with Safari, by all means stick with it.

SomeRandomUser 13y ago

My list (using Opera 15): * Internal pages and tools as pages, specially the downloads manager (I can't stand Firefox's little windows or Chrome's behind-the-scenes crippled manager). * How it handles extensions by default (little buttons to the right of the address bar). * The nested Speed Dial and the Stash. * Off road mode is a really great tool when using slow connections. * Default synchronization (is not an extension). On the other side, v 15 isn't as polished as it should had been before being made publicly available (CTRL+Z doesn't work, no bookmarks, small bugs with the address bar). Anyway, as you can see, most of the benefits are just UI decisions. I just don't like how Firefox or Chrome look and how they display their functionality (which is absolutely subjective).

MAGZine 13y ago
aren't points 1, 2, 5 already in chrome, and have been for some times?
- cbhl 13y ago
  Re 1: You have to know to open the page (in the menu, or at chrome://downloads) -- by default it just shows you the download bar at the bottom of the page where you downloaded the file. Re 2: Parent probably is confused by extensions versus web apps. I find this confusing too, since it's up to the developer to choose which form factor to use when writing the extension/app.

Nux 13y ago

This must be the first time in the recent history (that I remember) when Opera chooses not to release for Linux (and BSDs). Jimmy doesn't like this!

vlastik 13y ago

You can use Chromium. There is no way using closed source Opera is safer than open source Chromium.

cromwellian 13y ago

Just once I wish people would fire up a camera, point it at their browsers, and record their claims of sluggishness. This thread is full of competing claims that their favorite browser is fast, while competitor browser is atrociously slow. Posting system specs would be useful too, there's a chance that slow performance is GPU or driver related, memory related, dependent on other apps you have installed, etc. Some objectivity would be nice for once instead of warring anecdotes.

decryptthis_NSA 13y ago
I use Firefox and love it. I suppose it depends on what plugins people use. Or they may have had a bad experience once and let it at that

theREALffuck 13y ago

Oh, so I should use Opera just because it's produced by a cool company? Firefox is Open Source and they champion (or so they say) the cause of a more standardised Internet. Oh, they also raise money to donate to charity. Does that mean I should use Firefox? And speaking of standards: Your typical end-user doesn't give a monkey's about whether all the browsers use the same standards, or whether they all use different engines and different versions of HTML and force web designers to run browser detection algorithms. As long as the page looks good, and loads fast, they'll be happy. Browsing data sync is also available on Google Chrome. And you're mentioning it even though it still hasn't been implemented on Opera 15? Well that's quite something. Saying that "Browser X is better because in the future it will have Y and Z" debases your credibility as a browser user. I don't use Chrome because "in the future it might use quantum computing and fly." I use chrome because it has bookmarks and it has them NOW. I don't have to wait. Last but not least, extensions. Opera is perhaps the one that's lacking the most when it comes to extensions. It is good that they'll start supporting chrome extensions, but that doesn't automatically makes it better than chrome. If anything, it reinforces the idea that it's just a cheap clone of Chrome. So there you have it, at least to me your "5 reasons to choose Opera" post should be renamed "Opera has server-side compression. Yay!". Don't get me wrong, I'm not an Opera hater. In fact, I used to love it. I installed Opera everywhere I could. I showed Opera to a lot of people, and explained to them why I considered it to be the best option. That was one year ago. Today I would recommend Chrome. That's just my point of view, of course. Opera can still improve. That's what I hope, that they will turn Opera 15 into a beast, as fast as Chrome and boasting all the features from the previous versions. But in the interim, I'll stick with Chrome. Is not everything I want in a browser, but it's close enough.