I use Opera as my main browser and I cringe when clicking on a link in HN which supposedly shows off usage of cool new features in HTML/CSS/JS/WebGL whatever. Then I hunt around the site which breaks on me with no message. Then have to trawl through the HN comments to realize that it only works in Chrome and no one bothers to put that in the headline or on the site. Note that this happens to lots of Google cool features or easter eggs. Is this really taking the web forward or setting it back to the "best works in IE" days (just without that helpful message) ?
And now Opera is pissed at the usage of browser specific extensions and is adding support for -moz and -webkit which is sure to further mess up things.
"And now Opera is pissed at the usage of browser specific extensions and is adding support for -moz and -webkit which is sure to further mess up things."
I know Mozilla has been discussing this as well, to have a chance to compete in mobile. Do you have a link to Opera's statement about it?
Honest question, and I promise I'm not trying to be antagonistic: why do that to yourself? Why not Chrome or Safari or even Firefox? Why keep using Opera at all?
I am an Opera user as well but I really tried to do the Chrome switch when I got a new laptop and decided on a fresh install of everything. I was thinking that it might be time to begin a new chapter in my personal browser-history-life and hop on the Chrome bandwagon. It didn't take more than a day or two until I got drawn back to Opera though.
I know it's just mostly/only about "old habits die hard" but I just feel that so much is amiss in Chrome. From small things like that I have to get an app to get a dropdown address bar list (I mean really?) or the lack of intuitive hotkeys (my favourite is Opera's ctrl + z for undoing a closed tab) to bigger things like that I have to put up with Google's constant nagging about logging in to this or that or the lack of features that Opera has out the box (like Opera Turbo and such).
An old usage case before I got a no-limit data package plan was trying to save bandwidth while tethering from my phone. In Opera I could first put on Opera Turbo (like a proxy compressing service) and with another two clicks control what elements I want shown. I could easily and intuitively turn off pictures for example and only choose show those that I may want to look at. It was great for surfing light!
I am no rockstar web developer nor am I interested in figuring out what plugins/apps I need. I just want stuff to work, out of the box, while still having access to some cool stuff. And for that Opera works wonders for me (even though the support for it ain't that great ;) )!
AS far as browsers go, I think Opera innovates better than anyone. The speed dial interface you see in other browsers now was copied from them and poorly at that. Unified search & address bar appeared in Opera first (at least that's the first place I saw it). Custom search engines & shortcuts are awesome. And I rather like the mail client.
Don't get me wrong, it has its downsides. But it's much lighter weight on memory than Firefox and better on CPU than Chrome in my experience. And I don't get all the weird ass blitting issues I seem to have with Safari. I've also run into far fewer crashes. So, when it works on a site it's phenomenal to use. When it doesn't, it kinda sucks.
Because I've been using it for 10+ years and I like that it's lightweight. I do have Chrome and Firefox installed and used to use Chrome for a while on my laptop, but got drawn back to Opera. Opera also handles tens of tabs easily with lower memory than Chrome or FF.
>why do that to yourself
All the sites I regularly visit work properly in Opera, and I don't think it's worth it to switch my browser of choice just to see a HTML5 or WebGL demo on HN.
And now Opera is pissed at the usage of browser specific extensions and is adding support for -moz and -webkit which is sure to further mess up things.