Why I use Opera Browser

Every few months I’ve posted briefly about my browser preference. I don’t do so in order to rub Internet Exploder users’ faces in the mess IE makes of their everyday browsing (whether they know it’s doing so or not) or in any expectation of “converting” users to a more sane browser than Internet Exploder or the much better, though still kludgy, Firefox. No, I do it because something someone said in comments or email spurs me to simply let folks know that there is a better way.

Yesterday, I sent someone an swf file as an email attachment. They couldn’t play it with their default image/media file viewer and tried viewing it in Firefox.

No go there, either.

Strange. Opened just fine in Opera. I haven’t looked into it any further than to try to replicate the problem in Firefox. Yup. And when it fails to play the file, it doesn’t even suggest downloading and installing an “extension” to do so. Bad form, that.

So that got me thinking again about why I appreciate Opera browser. Here are my top three reasons, based on what I do every day on the internet.

It just works as a browser. CLeanly, efficiently, quickly. tabbed browsing is much easier than with Firefox, and mouse gestures and zooming work better and don’t need extensions to just work right.
It’s a great email client. That’s right. I don’t have to have a separate email client loaded to handle all my email needs. I can open and close my email window with a keystroke or mouse click/gesture. Right inside my browser. Check all my email accounts with a keyboard combo–without leaving the window I’m browsing. Built into the browser.
Opera is also my full text RSS reader. Just CLICK on the lil RSS button in the addressbar of a site I wanna subscribe to, accept the subscription and I’m done. Unlike the limited ability of Firefox, Opera’s RSS reader really works–easily, and displays the full text of the feeds by default (I could limit it to headline displays, but why?).

Media files, graphics, whatever. It Just Works. Without a lotta hoohaw.

For Linux, Mac, Windows, Solaris, heck, for your phone. Opera’s just a better browser.

Experiencing the internet in the fast lane and thumbing my nose at the slow drivers while driving by TMH’s Bacon Bits (sorry about that, TMH… sorta :-)).