Opera 11: Browser´s revolution

Nowadays, in the browser´s market we are having a big competition between the three major industry players: IE, Chrome and Firefox. However, Opera has been innovating with original alternative that brings it to the same level of mainstream browsers, although this has never been a massive-use browser. Version 11 of Opera, continue innovating since it´s creation.

One of the surprises that Opera 11 brings is that it supports extensions, already known by users, although the number of these extensions is nowadays about two hundred, this is not a problem since their development is available to anyone with the know-how. Among the extensions the user finds, we have the most required, such as passwords reminders, downloading videos from YouTube portal, Gmail notifiers, etc. Installation is made in a simple way and user must restart the browser.

While this feature is already owned by Google Chrome, unlike this, Opera has found a new twist to that concept. The innovation proposed by Opera is that extensions can be loaded on demand, that is to say, that while these are not used, browser does not load into memory, improving Opera performance by up to 30 percent compared with other browsers.

Another innovation that this version offers is the concept of pile up windows or Tab Stacking. This is to drag a tab over another, grouping them so that the user can open and close the group created through a double click or using the mouse pointer for a preview.

What´s more, it also brings an improvement in the function of Mouse Gestures, trying to make this function friendly for new users. The main change here is that you no longer need to remember mouse gestures, but holding down the right mouse button.

Finally, it is worth mention the changes made in the address bar with the aim of making it easier; now when surfing through the browser, the address is shown without parameters or the http:// protocol. They have also provided users with icons that show the different status identified in the current page that Opera has loaded. This innovation gives an additional advantage to the user to know the security level that works through the browser.

Undoubtedly, Opera 11 is a great choice between the three major browsers known today, because of their interesting features, good performance and the support offered for the latest web technologies, trying to capture new audiences with this latest version and its new changes.

Google surprises everyone by announcing updates every 6 weeks

After the European League forced Microsoft to offer its users different browsers to choose from in March 2010, the war got hot. Within this framework, Google has announced that Chrome will offer a stable updated version every 6 weeks.

Surprising as it may seem, the news implies a change that had already been adopted by Mozilla somehow, although its proposal had not been as bold. Google wants Chrome’s periodic safety updates to be more than just that and to include functions.

According to Google’s director, this change in Chrome’s release dates implies a change in the internal flow of work. Even so, it has been guaranteed that Google Chrome’s updates with new functions are the ideal, and they will be achieved as long as there are not important failures that divert attention from the project of improvements.

The change in Google Chrome’s release scheme will surely benefit the users, who won’t even have to bother since the updates will be automatic. On the other hand, this move will definitely make Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox or Opera to come into play.

Firefox 4

Everybody is expecting the new revision of the popular browser a Firefox,

which would be 3.7 version, Mozilla Foundation took a wise decision and released Firefox, whose Beta version is already available. To everybody’s surprise, or at least to the users’ surprise, this version doesn’t seem to be very original at first glance but it is expected to be radically changed before its definite release.

With this new release, Firefox looks forward to stay in the competition against other browsers like Internet Explorer, whose 9 version also promises to be unbeatable. That’s why, Firefox Beta shows, among other new characteristics, a new interface with a sensitive, Chrome-like design but keeping to its original style.

The new arrangement of the elements displays the navigation toolbar underneath, or rather, inside each of the tabs. In this way, Firefox offers a tidier, more fluent navigation experience and makes each tab independent from the rest, as Mozilla explains.

Together with this interesting arrangement of the tabs and the navigation toolbar, Firefox offers a timely possibility of creating ‘app tabs’ for websites like Facebook, Twitter, etc., which will be seen permanently in the browser’s main window. Although this will surely make things easier for thousands of users, there’s a drawback that will hopefully be considered before releasing the definite 4 version: this tabs don’t show the status updates as ‘traditional tabs’ did, so we can’t find out if there were new tweets or new messages in Facebook at first glance.

It must be said that Firefox’s new design can be customized as the traditional view mode, in which the navigation toolbar was above the tabs. In addition to these new characteristics, Firefox is compatible with HTML5 and WebM video standards.

Firefox is getting ready to enter the browsers’ “boxing ring” to flaunt its latest improvements and new characteristics, as well as the ones in the recent 3.6 version. But the interesting features that Firefox has presented so far are not enough to fight this battle, so some of them, such as the app tabs, are expected to be reconsidered before the release of its latest version.

In 2009 Internet Explorer had another significant lost on the browsers’ market

Ending 2009 it is possible to make a balance about the modifications of the popularity of the different browsers that were registered during this year. Although Internet Explorer is still on top of the statistics, its participation dropped once again.

Internet Explorer, who started the year with almost a 70% of the users, finishes closing with the 62.7%. This 7 points loss added to the almost 8 that had already lost during 2008, lets us state that if it continues that tendency, by the end of 2011, though it will remain as the most used browser, it will have lost half of the market. It’s important to point out that the use of the versions 6 and 7 of the Microsoft browser has considerably decreased. This can mean that a lot of users that abandoned the use of old versions didn’t update it for Internet Explorer 8.0, as the reduction on those it’s not compensated with an increase on the last one.

On the other hand, Mozilla Firefox is still positioned as the second favorite browser, closing the year with a 24.61% of the users. Although its growth wasn’t as spectacular as in 2008, in which it increased in its quarter its participation, it’s important to highlight that it keeps its tendency high.

It could be said that during 2008, the majority of users that Internet Explorer lost moved to Mozilla Firefox, in 2009 the decrease on the Microsoft browser can be attributed not only to Mozilla Firefox’s growth, but above it all, to Chrome’s. The browser lunched by Google closes the year with a participation of 4.63%. The number doesn’t seem so spectacular if you don’t take into account that its launch was just 16 months ago.

Other browsers with a remarkable participation on the market, like Safari and Opera, didn’t suffer many modifications. They kept a high tendency and together they represent the 7% option of the users.

To conclude it can be said that Internet Explorer is the only browser that loses users, and at the expense of which the other browsers like Mozilla Firefox or Chrome, and even Safari and Opera grow. If this situation persists, it won’t take any longer until the giant of the computing is dethroned.

Unlimited web browsing

Web browsers are essential for using the internet since they enable users to display all of the available content on the net. Although there is wide range of browsers on the market, we’re going to do a short review as regards the most popular ones. These applications allow users to access different content such as websites, videos, interactive websites, audio streaming and more.

Let´s have a look at the highlights of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Without a doubt, Internet Explorer is “THE” browser by excellence. The fact that it’s the default, in-built browser of each and every Windows PC makes this the most familiar one for most users, and this is its biggest virtue.

In the latest versions it has been incorporating certain elements already tried and tested in other browsers, such as the use of tabs and thumbnails, a phishing filter, an RSS reader, and an improved interface in terms of the icons and the placement of all the elements.

Many people feel the same way about IE as they do about Windows itself: it may not be perfect, but it’s simple and always at hand. We can always mention things to improve in  Internet Explorer, but one thing is for sure, it´s very user friendly and we don’t have to download it if we own Microsoft Windows.

Mozilla Firefox

This is a great browser that, thanks to its stability and smooth running, has managed to stand up to Internet Explorer in reason years.

Mozilla Firefox is an independent development project that came out of the Mozilla project, basing itself on this application’s browser engine. Added to this solid base are very interesting features such as tabbed browsing and the ability to install different components (including plug-ins, extensions, search engines, dictionaries, and visual themes), thereby allowing users to customize the browser as they see fit. Tabbed browsing is a great allows users to open several tabs in a single browsing session.

This browser is expanding all the time and, if the huge numbers of supporters it wins over every day have anything to do with it, we’re sure it’ll go far.

Opera

Another pretty popular choice is Opera, a stable and fully-featured browser that stands out for its high security standards and for the speeds at which it’s able to process and display the web sites on screen.

Historically, this browser was known for its search for innovative touches to make it stand out from the crowd. As such, it was the first to use tabs and, unsurprisingly, it can also be modified by making use of the large library of widgets and accessories.

Recent versions of Opera have come with some noteworthy elements, such as: a start page with thumbnails of selected sites to provide quick access to the ones you use most frequently, built-in BitTorrent and email clients, an RSS reader, and the ability to make handy notes about web sites. Though Opera is not very popular, its set of features makes it one of the most complete web browsers.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is the web browser developed by Google, and we all know what Google stands for. All their application and services are top-notch and this web browser is certainly not the exception. Google Chrome is minimalistic in extreme with no menu bar, no status bar and only a single tool bar, as well as some may even call it a stripped-down. The main user interface contains back, forward, bookmark, refresh, and go along with cancel options, but Google Chrome is much more than just a minimalistic user interface.

With its dynamic tabs features, you can drag tabs out of the browser to create new windows, gather multiple tabs into one window or arrange your tabs however you wish — quickly and easily. Unlike other web browsers, with Google Chrome you can pick up where you left off with all the bookmarks and passwords from your existing browser.

A while ago Google managed to change to the way we think about search engines and then e-mail accounts. With Chrome, Google enters the browsers battle and –in time- it will set a new standard for surfing the web.

It’s far from easy to pick a favourite since, whilst they all fulfil the basic job of a web browser, each one also has something that sets it apart from the others. Mozilla Firefox is, if you like, the most balanced overall, taking into account aspects such as stability, security, speed and customization.

For this reason, we are going to choose a tool as necessary as the connection that enables us to take full advantage of all internet options. We must set our priorities according to our needs and emphasize the most important features to us. Mozilla Firefox is the current most balanced web browser, featuring great stability, safety, speed and customization.

Still, we can´t denied the amazing features that other web browsers deliver since all browsers work relatively well. It´s up to you to decide which one you will use or you could just try them all and see for yourself the one that suits your needs.

Windows 7 to allow users to install Chrome, Firefox and Opera?

Though it may have seemed unlikely for some of us, Microsoft finally opens its doors and decided that users will be allowed to choose which web browser they want to install on Windows 7.

There were several cases battled between Microsoft and the European Union, stating that Microsoft was blocking its competitor out of the market through anti-competitive practices by including their own web browser and media player. However, it is of common knowledge that these attempts to stop Microsoft monopolization were futile since Internet Explorer is still the most used web browser today due to the fact that it´s bundle with Microsoft Windows.

Nonetheless, Internet Explorer reign may be over after a presentation held by the software giant in Brussels, enabling users to choose which web browser they want to install on Windows 7.

What Microsoft proposes, basically, is that users be allowed -through one of its set up wizard options- to choose their default browser, as well as disabling Internet Explorer completely. These will allows Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, Apple Safari and even other less known browsers to enter the browser battle, but a battle fought mostly against Internet Explorer domination.

It´s quite obvious that Microsoft´s fine of €1.700 millions –imposed by the European Commission- would force them to change its business strategies.

After the announcement was made, the European executive informed in a press release that “The Commission embraces this proposal and will now investigate its practical efficiency when it comes to guaranteeing what consumers can opt for”.

It´s a matter of time until a resolution to the conflict be reached after endless years of dispute, whose outcome hopes to ultimately favor users.

One the Opera´s main feature is its customization. Each user can set it up to suit their needs. For instance, you can set a specific number of websites to add as homepage as well as choosing among several search engines. Let´s see how to add browser windows and search engines to Opera in a few steps.

One of its most interesting and original features of Opera is to set several websites as homepage. One of them is Speed Dial, a websites’ graphic menu that enables users to customize it either by adding or removing websites to the links grid.

Opera allows users to increase the number of websites in their Speed Dial homepage, since Opera uses by default a 3×3 grid for the SpeeD Dial.

Follow these instructions to add more websites to the grid:

1)    To modify the main grid, we must modify a configuration file called speeddial.ini. The latter´s path changes according to the version of the Opera and the operative system you´re using. Use Windows search function to find it.

2)    Next, close Opera and open the file speeddial.ini con  with any text file -such as notepad or WordPad- and add the following lines:

3)    Save the file and open Opera again, you´ll notice the change at once.

By doing this, we can modify the number of rows and columns just by modifying the numeric values set in the lines “Rows” and “Columns” in speeddial.ini.

Add search engines to Opera

Every web browser includes a default search engine. In this way, the user doesn’t´ have to enter the search engine website (ex. www.Google.com). Opera includes some of the most popular search engines, but you can still add others. Follow these instructions to add search engines.

1)    Once you choose the search engine, right click inside the search box and choose the option “Create Search”.

2)    Next, complete “name” and “keyword” text fields.

3)    Now, click on a tab and then right click on it and choose the “customize” option.

4)    Another window will now open. Choose the “Buttons” tab and once inside choose the “Search” option. The search engine you added will be listed there.

5)    With the left mouse click drag the search engine outside the window and place it anywhere you where. Once you´ve followed these steps, you´ll have additional search engines on your list.

Opera is an application that can be fully customized, giving the user the possibility to adjust its options and features to the utmost. If you properly followed the above-mentioned steps, you won´t have any issues increasing websites to the grid or adding more search engines.

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