Opera vs. Firefox

[Victormd]

I've just recently started using Opera and must say that I find it very nice though it does seem to take a little longer to load some pages when compared to Firefox, which has been my browser of choice for... I don't know how long... and I wanted to hear a bit about other user's experiences with the two browsers, such as, pros and cons that you've found, and things like that...

To me, I really like firefox's functionality and simplicity, but I think opera has a very clean feel to the interface and that has attracted me alot to it... but them comes questions such as, stability, security, speed... and things like that...

I know this might be purely personal preference, that's why I ask about stability and security... Please let me know what you think!

[Bigtime_Scrub]

Opera is faster for me. I use it now for everything expect streaming video and youtube, in which case I switch to Firefox. Opera is way better at web browsing and it doesn't slow me down when I am running applications in the background.

[Barrucadu]

For me, Opera is also faster than Firefox. Also, if you use the 9.5 beta, you can use Flash properly. I have found the beta slightly unstable compared to the stable version (occasionally freezing up), but that is to be expected with a beta version.

[bilbo.san]

I use OPERA and Firefox in different machines (for quite some time...) and I have been using FF b on Ubuntu, but and I am switching to Opera, not just because it is a little bit faster.
OK, lets take the Pro and Cons to my opinion.

FF, pros are, it has lots of cool add-ons, it is secure indeed, it is fast, there are lots of skins to choose from (which quality has been decreasing I must say). Cons are::: However, the Beta version has lots of issues yet to be solved. The RC1 fixed many but still it is not stable enough. ALSO Something that has been bothering me is that you can not upgrade FF from the repos for now until the final release.

Opera, pros are, it is quite fast, and to my experience, it is a little faster than FF, it is quite secure (but I think FF beats opera on it, but this should not be a problem with Ubuntu, right?), the environment design and style is much nicer than FF, it has lots of utility add-ons (perhaps not as much as FF but there is everything you need), it is a very easy browser to use, reads CSS1, CSS2 and CSS3 properly (FF has some problems with CSS3 sometimes).
the Cons are::: it is not capable to read JS properly for some applications, so if a webpage like the Amazon menu uses it, it may give a little bit of a problem, the same thing happens with some Flash sites... however, if you are familiar with the settings, you can set a few things to fix some things up, but then it is just for advanced users.

With all these, I really like OPERA and for how, I am installing opera on Linux ubuntu and wait for a few months for FF to have the final release available in the repos.

b.

[MONODA]

for me, opera does almost everything faster than firefox, but doesnt render some things properly. *waits for laroza to come and list everyway that opera is better than firefox*

[smartboyathome]

Firefox for me. The addons I use (Adblock Plus w/filter updater, Noscript, User Agent Swicher), don't have very good equivilents in Opera. I know I can get similar functionality to those in Opera, but it doesn't even come close to me for User Agent Switcher (need to look like I use Windows for my school sites), nor Noscript (not as easy to use).

[DM was on fire!]

I actually don't use either! XD
I use a mix of Konqueror and Epiphany.

If I had to pick, I think it'd have to depend on the website, but a slight edge to Firefox because of Adblock, and my NaNoWriMo Meter Add-On.

[cardinals_fan]

Opera is fast, secure, and feature-packed. If you need advice on getting NoScript/Adblock functionality on Opera, let me know and I can tell you how I did it.

[bilbo.san]

Opera is fast, secure, and feature-packed. If you need advice on getting NoScript/Adblock functionality on Opera, let me know and I can tell you how I did it.

Hey... one of many the reasons why I use FF is the NoScript add-on. If you could share where to find that feature, that would be great.

Both browsers are Excellent! But I insist that during this Beta and RC time for FF on Ubuntu, Opera is the better.

b.

[Barrucadu]

Hey... one of many the reasons why I use FF is the NoScript add-on. If you could share where to find that feature, that would be great.

Both browsers are Excellent! But I insist that during this Beta and RC time for FF on Ubuntu, Opera is the better.

b.

Right click a page, "Edit Site Preferences", "Scripting" tab, untick "Enable Javascript" for site-by-site control.
Alternatively, "Tools", "Quick Preferences", untick "Enable Javascript" for all sites.

[ninjabob7]

Basically the difference between FF and Opera is that FF has extensions for anything you could possibly want to do, while Opera has most of the important stuff built-in. Personally I use Opera because FF doesn't work for me on XFCE, but there are some annoyances like lack of extensions and bad Java support.

[bilbo.san]

Thanks Barrucadu!!!

[cardinals_fan]

Hey... one of many the reasons why I use FF is the NoScript add-on. If you could share where to find that feature, that would be great.

Both browsers are Excellent! But I insist that during this Beta and RC time for FF on Ubuntu, Opera is the better.

b.
A better solution is here (http://files.myopera.com/shoust/files/noscriptunblockmode.js). Save it in a folder of your choosing and set that folder as the userjs folder like so:
Tools -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Content -> JavaScript Options -> User JavaScript Files and select the folder. Restart Opera and a little symbol should appear in the bottom right corner. Clicking it lets you allow/block javascript.

[nick09]

Firefox for me.

Because of the clean design that it has and that it's my favorite browser along with I don't really like the looks of opera.

Oh yeah opera does not support 64-bit OS's(from the site download) so its a no-no to opera.

[perlluver]

Firefox for me, because of one web site. GMX.com, my email account. It will not load in Opera. I think that sucks to be quite honest.

[Colonel Kilkenny]

... it is quite secure (but I think FF beats opera on it, but this should not be a problem with Ubuntu, right?)

Actually Opera has better record when it comes to security problems but that doesn't really mean anything as normally both browsers are secure and fixes are released quickly.

reads CSS1, CSS2 and CSS3 properly (FF has some problems with CSS3 sometimes).
the Cons are::: it is not capable to read JS properly for some applications, so if a webpage like the Amazon menu uses it, it may give a little bit of a problem, the same thing happens with some Flash sites... however, if you are familiar with the settings, you can set a few things to fix some things up, but then it is just for advanced users.


Yeah, Opera has one major issue and it isn't mostly Opera's fault at all.
Quite amount of sites do not care for standards and partly the ones which claim to care about them are just developing for firefox which is exactly as stupid as developing to IE. And that's causing sites to break down with Opera or WebKit-based browsers even though basically Gecko / Mozilla is atm. way behind both WebKit and Presto (Opera) when it comes to standards. :rolleyes:

but it doesn't even come close to me for User Agent Switcher (need to look like I use Windows for my school sites)
Just a quick note.
"Mask as Internet Explorer" is exactly the same as IE in Windows. "Mask as Firefox" mentions Linux in user-agent if you're using Linux.

I use Opera (always the latest build). I just can't use FF after all these years with Opera. FF is slow to start, it crashes every now and then, Gecko is lacking compared to Presto (I love fooling around with all that neat little CSS/SVG/etc. stuff), UI is somehow too "strict", clumsy and slow, it has extensions which have huge amounts of config options but still they partly fail in the most important area: mouse gestures has just a tiny little lag which is irri-freakin-tating etc.
For me personally Firebug was pretty much the only thing that Firefox had over Opera. Now Dragonfly is actively developed and it can already replace Firebug (and it has huge advantages over Firebug as it can be detached to a separate window etc.).

Edit. Btw. Opera released yesterday new default skin which is quite awesome after todays updates actually. Personally I have to do some minor tweaking but it is quite good (although it doesn't integrate really to Gnome). Hopefully future builds bring change to this issue as well.

[Victormd]

Well, I've been using Opera beta for the past few days and am really enjoying it... I don't use that many add-ons so that's really not an issue I do have an issue with one site (www.citicards.com) (both in FF and Opera) related to scripts so I've been using FF with NoScript to access this site. Other than that, Opera is starting to win me over FF...

Can someone check this link (www.citicards.com) and let me know if it's just me or if it's a general error...

[nick09]

Well, I've been using Opera beta for the past few days and am really enjoying it... I don't use that many add-ons so that's really not an issue I do have an issue with one site (www.citicards.com) (both in FF and Opera) related to scripts so I've been using FF with NoScript to access this site. Other than that, Opera is starting to win me over FF...

Can someone check this link (www.citicards.com) and let me know if it's just me or if it's a general error...

After I allowed the scripts with NoScript, it appears but then disappears....

[Colonel Kilkenny]

Can someone check this link (www.citicards.com) and let me know if it's just me or if it's a general error...

Well the site is definitely messed up. I took a quick look and it seems that there are some sort of z-index / flash problems. Might have something to do with Javascripts as well...

Anyway, after I disabled plugins (to get rid of flash-elements) everything seemed to be working okay. If they have any common sense the site works also without flash. You might wanna try that.
Right click on page before it goes nuts -> Edit site preferences -> Content -> Untick enable plugins. Save & Refresh.

[Victormd]

Yeah, that's exactly what happens to me... I've already sent them an e-mail complaining about it but I don't know how much good it's going to do...
In the mean time, that's what I do, disable the scripts in FF using noscript...

Thanks for checking it...

EDIT: Ok, I think Opera just won me over... at least for now... disabling the script in Opera yields a much smoother "browsing experience" compared to disabling in FF using the noscript add-on...

[Victormd]

Awesome!!! One more point for Opera, it has torrent embeded in the browser... I was browsing some torrents and downloaded them to use with transmission, and I notice that Opera started downloading them for me as well! and looks like it's faster than transmission!!!

[knavarathna92]

opera is faster but Firefox offers more features in terms of plugins, has more skins and for me has less bugs. I'm willing to sacrifice speed for enhanced interface that is readily accessible.

[smartboyathome]

A better solution is here (http://files.myopera.com/shoust/files/noscriptunblockmode.js). Save it in a folder of your choosing and set that folder as the userjs folder like so:
Tools -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Content -> JavaScript Options -> User JavaScript Files and select the folder. Restart Opera and a little symbol should appear in the bottom right corner. Clicking it lets you allow/block javascript.

I am not talking about just Javascript, but all scripts. There are other scripts which are not just javascripts (flash, anyone?), so unless this blocks those as well, it wouldn't work for me.

Just a quick note.
"Mask as Internet Explorer" is exactly the same as IE in Windows. "Mask as Firefox" mentions Linux in user-agent if you're using Linux.

Yes, but I need it to be firefox (it uses different code when using IE versus FF), but also windows. In FF with User Agent Switcher,you can make custom masks so that it shows what you want.

[Barrucadu]

I am not talking about just Javascript, but all scripts. There are other scripts which are not just javascripts (flash, anyone?), so unless this blocks those as well, it wouldn't work for me.

Flash can be blocked on a per-site basis using the Block Content feature.

[smartboyathome]

I want it blocked before it can be run (security freak when it comes to web browsers). Looks like that isn't possible as of yet with Opera. :(

[Barrucadu]

*thinks hard*

You could disable plugins. That would save you from Flash.

[smartboyathome]

*thinks hard*

You could disable plugins. That would save you from Flash.

*starts wondering how hard it should really be versus firefox's plugin*

I think I will stick with FF for now, besides the QT4 version of Opera doesn't fully work with QGtkStyle. :(

[yikesalmighty]

I am brand new to Linux, but its the same in the Windows world. They are both fantastic browsers, so use the least expensive one. Yeah I know they are free. I use them both. Mostly FF, but thats just because I am more familiar with it.

Heck, I even use IE occasionally.

I will probably totally abandon IE when FF3 goes final.
For the longest time I used IE when I wanted a totally fullscreen. Fullscreen with the toolbar autohidden (so that you access the toolbar only when you hover over it). IE did this right. The FF extensions were never too stable on my system. Now, thankfully, its built into FF3 and done right.

In Opera, I like how you can hover over a tab and a snapshop of thats tab webpage comes up.

Computer Power User magazine has an article "Battle Of The Browsers" in the July issue (page 77). (Great mag,and even better website!)

[gareth80]

I find both excellent browsers. They do everything I need them to. The only reason I tried Opera was my on-line banking doesn't yet support FF3.

[tad1073]

I have been using Opera since 6 or 7, I can't remember which though. I also have Fx but I use Opera as my main browser. It comes with all the features I need built-in, there are extensions to dl to bog down the browser

[Tomatz]

Opera 9.5 beta for me. Flash works perfectly in the beta. I also use the vlc plugin instead of totem :)

[Victormd]

Ok... on with the comparison... I've been using opera for the past week now and I really like it... but, I've noticed that every now and then a script-link won't work (i.e., category selection under www.deviantart.com) and I'll have to open it using FF... I don't know if this is because I'm using the beta version or if opera has a harder time handling scripts when compared to FF...

[bilbo.san]

Ok... on with the comparison... I've been using opera for the past week now and I really like it... but, I've noticed that every now and then a script-link won't work (i.e., category selection under www.deviantart.com) and I'll have to open it using FF... I don't know if this is because I'm using the beta version or if opera has a harder time handling scripts when compared to FF...


You can fix that for some websites by opening the site, then with that tab selected, go to TOOLS, then open the sub-menu MORE OPTIONS, right below the ADVANCED options command, then select EDIT SITE OPTIONS, there, go to the last tab and select ID SITE AS FIREFOX... that will make it work prperly.

good luck.
b.

[cardinals_fan]

You can fix that for some websites by opening the site, then with that tab selected, go to TOOLS, then open the sub-menu MORE OPTIONS, right below the ADVANCED options command, then select EDIT SITE OPTIONS, there, go to the last tab and select ID SITE AS FIREFOX... that will make it work prperly.

good luck.
b.
Or right click in the site, go to Edit Site Preferences, go to Network, and change the identification. Either way should work.

[Victormd]

So now I'm slowly converting my colleagues to opera (previously, everyone had IE)... can't install ubuntu here because of windows-specific requirements, but it's a start... :)

[Davsdu]

I have nothing against Firefox, I actually love and support the idea of free, open-sourced programs (Firefox being one of the great ones at that), but I don´t get all the hype surrounding Firefox and its speed. If speed is your thing, Opera is a good choice.

[rudihawk]

I tried to convert to Opera but it just irritated me, I don't know why it just did.

Back to FF3 now :)

[Tomatz]

Opera is clearly the fastest browser in my experience hands down and it always baffles me a little when I read someone commenting on how fast Firefox is compared to other browsers. I have nothing against Firefox, I actually love and support the idea of free, open-sourced programs (Firefox being one of the great ones at that), but I don´t get all the hype surrounding Firefox and its speed. For example, also Microsoft´s IE 8 beta, I believe (having tried it for some time now on my Windows machine) is faster than both Firefox 2 and 3. So if speed is your thing, Opera is your choice. If you´re looking for a browser that offers loads of free, available plug-ins and add-ons for customization, Firefox is your best bet.

Personally, I think Opera is the most beautiful browser of them all. I would use Opera all the time if it wasn´t for two things; gmx.com email doesn´t support Opera and there are seemingly no (working) plug-ins for downloading videos from Youtube.

There is a utube download widget. Havent tried it though.

[eternalnewbee]

What about Swiftweasel?

[Cannaregio]

Once you begin using opera you'll never go back to firefox (or any other GUI browser for that matter). Shade it's not open source, but its speed compels me to use it nevertheless.

Moreover it is not only a matter of sheer speed (opera is almost as fast as a CLI browser like elinks!!) but also a matter of "out of the box" configuration: Firefox is a fine browser indeed, and with a tons of plugins, and some finetuning, can result almost as good as opera already is out of the box.
Firefox remains slower, though, and opera's right click "block content" feature is a joy to use in this advertisement infested web of late.

So, just try opera and check by yourself its amazing speed.

[cardinals_fan]

Once you begin using opera you'll never go back to firefox (or any other GUI browser for that matter). Shade it's not open source, but its speed compels me to use it nevertheless.

Moreover it is not only a matter of sheer speed (opera is almost as fast as a CLI browser like elinks!!) but also a matter of "out of the box" configuration: Firefox is a fine browser indeed, and with a tons of plugins, and some finetuning, can result almost as good as opera already is out of the box.
Firefox remains slower, though, and opera's right click "block content" feature is a joy to use in this advertisement infested web of late.

So, just try opera and check by yourself its amazing speed.
I like Opera, but I can't seem to find anything as good as Vimperator for it.

[Erunno]

Firefox remains slower, though, and opera's right click "block content" feature is a joy to use in this advertisement infested web of late.

So, just try opera and check by yourself its amazing speed.

Well, at least on the three mainstream JavaScript tests [1][2][3] Opera loses to an unmodified Firefox. During my tests the only extension which had a noticeable effect beyond random noise seemed to be NoScript.

[1] http://www2.webkit.org/perf/sunspider-0.9/sunspider.html
[2] http://dromaeo.com/
[3] http://code.google.com/apis/v8/run.html

The only field where Opera excels is supposedly page rendering with low bandwidth connections. In the recent arms race between WebKit and Gecko Opera seems to have been left somewhat behind.

[Deadheded]

I've used Opera longer than I have used Linux. While FF is good and I do have to use it for Java because Java does not support 64 bit Linux there are two features to Opera that I just love and make me very productive.

1. Mouse gestures. This feature is killer. I spend a bit of time on message boards and to me this feature is indispensable.

2.Speed dial. Since they added this I just love it.

I also find Opera to be faster than FF. It is also easier to search words within pages.

[Tomatz]

I have a good opera tip! Some of you will almost definatly know this already.

If you want to block ad's just like adblock in firefox, just download the attachment below, extract it and put it in .opera in your home folder.

Restart opera

;)