Sunday, February 5. 2006Mini Review: Opera 8.5
I'm a two browser man. Or rather: I used to be. For a long time I have been using Konqueror and Opera 7 more or less concurrently, depending on the task at hand. I've always liked Opera for its polished, intuitive GUI, and the good rendering engine. However, something always made me go back to Konq, it just felt better for some tasks.
So anyway, the other day my fellow developer Illissius suggested I should upgrade to Opera 8.5, the latest stable release. I did so. And boy was that worth it. Opera 8.5 is incredible, it's pretty much the most polished piece of GUI software I've seen in my life. What's changed from version 7 to 8? - Incredible, awesome, fuck-me-running rendering performance. The engine is so fast, it isn't funny. Using Opera 8.5 feels like having a new computer. Rendering is instant, memory usage is very low (never any harddisk activity, on a low spec machine), and it's also quite standard conformant. - Completely overhauled GUI, extremely stripped down. Simple, functional, and a lot like Firefox. Clearly Firefox was a source of inspiration here, it's obvious. There are some issues with the settings dialogs, which are not always completely intuitive. Once it's configured, it's the best GUI you could wish for though. Highly usable. That's all there is to say, engine and GUI are the two components of a web browser. Opera oozes polish and quality, but the most amazing aspect is truly its performance. I'm guessing that the parallel development of embedded versions of the browser has helped in optimizing the engine. Renderer: 10/10 GUI: 8/10 Trackbacks
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Sir,
I did not appreciate your choice of language when describing Opera, as this is delivered as part of the Planet KDE rss feed. -arkwolf
I don't appreciate such language either. Call me what you want (religious bigot, anti-free speech, etc.), such language is not good for KDE's reputation.
Josh
shut up please, it's better to be polite in front and than to fuck behind
I concur. His excitement is despicable. Next thing you know, some of our clan members may waver in their religious beliefs, like in that "Chocolate" movie!
On a serious note, how is it working with
maps.google.com ?
Hmm, not really. The page kinda freezes after a few clicks, not accepting any input. Weird.
Update: I've just tested it with Opera 9 beta2. Works fine now
OMG, my eyeballs are bleeding. I have never seen such language, and my kids read these postings too, so I am horrified. I'm positive they have never heard such language and have no sense of the hyperbole being used in this case. Must protect them.
I also Konqueror 3.5.1 and Opera 8.51 user and would like not agree with the author. They are both the same for me, but it takes much longer to run Opera.
Konqueror is acid2 compatible, Opera is not yet. Konqueror doesn't work with google analytics, but Opera chashed there several times. Both of them have RSS support. I would go for Konqueror since it's opensource and you a connection with developers and have an influence on them
I agree whole-heartedly. The Opera rendering engine is very impressive.
And I like swearing - especially when you're excited. How on earth does it affect the reputation of KDE?
Indeed. I use Opera to browse the Java reference ( http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/ ) since Konqueror doesnt seem to handle huge lists of links very well.
The difference between the browsers in this case is huge (opera loads the page in seconds and scrolling i the left frame is smooth, Konqueror on the other hand needs a lot of time before it can even scroll, and when it does its a bit choppy). I use Konqueror for everything else tho since it starts more or less instantly and it handles most pages very well. Its also better integrated with kde. As for the swearing, i think it sets a lighter tone on what you write. Ie it feels more like listening to someone talking to you, rather than reading a EULA.
Perhaps it's just me but I really can't see that "whatever-me-running" adds anything to "rendering performance" that "incredible" and "awesome" left out, except informality.
Offended/surprised if other people object to words you like? Get over it, different people have different reactions. Think of your reaction if you stepped in dog-doo on your way to work... you're asking for it if you cut through the dog-walking park or the low-rent side of town but it's more annoying if it's a "regular" sidewalk in a good neighborhood. Nobody said "don't ever use the f-word", just "try not to use it in highly-visible places without some consideration for all the readers". If the only alternatives are EULA-style formality and out-at-the-bar vulgarity then the author needs to work on a broader range of communication styles.
hey there,
if you like opera 8.5 you'll love opera 9. and markey, have a look at the user javascript. e.g. userjs.org bye
Perhaps then you should have a look at http://labs.opera.com but be patient, TP2 should release tomorrow (with bittorrent, widgets and thumbpreview etc.)
WOW! I was up almost all night tweaking and learning about the new Opera. I honestly havent been this excited about an application since I installed amaroK for me for the first time.
People this is Markeys personal blog not an official KDE press release or mailing list or anything like that! In any case thanks Markey you ROCK!
lol. "Fuck me running"! This was funny.
If the people feel offended, let em leave this page. For all that they dont know, their kids are smarter behind their backs. Interestingly, they try to "protect" their kids from everything and they turn out to be such slobs (or whatever). I love Opera. Period. Konq is open source, definitely but the newer preview version blows off every previous version of Opera itself! Check out the Technical Preview 9 with widget support, thumbnails, torrents and every bit of eye candy et al. Konq could turn better eh?
I love opera and konquerer and firefox and safari. cream of the crop. I also like good swearing as well. "Fuck-me-running rendering performance" is good swearing. It adds gusto to the performance.... as opposed to bad swearing which is just saying something for the sake of it.
I'd love to see Opera put that one on their homepage. Which brings me to Billy Connolly @ http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1574093.htm - start at the line "Our Prime Minister..." if you are impatient. |
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