Opera8.2 vs FireFox1.06

[The Rock]

Hi,

I dont know if this topic is done or not. So please forgive if it is a repeat.

But i need to get the best browser. Which one of these two is better? Opera 8.2 Registered or FireFox1.0.6

Consider ther following things before you post your opinion:-

1) Security - AntiPhishing, Spyware resistent, Anti-Autoinstall Software (some popups)

2)Speed - I have heard Opera is the fastest, but let me know

3)How much time new bugs surface and thus updates out?

4)Skin support

5)Popup Blocker

6)AdBlocker

7)Plugins

8)Any known Compatibility issues.

I am really new to these softwares, earlier i used Netscape 7.2, but when i tried Netscape 8.0, i took an oath to never ever try Netscape ever.

Thanks.

[D8TA]

Neither use gosurf

http://gosurfbrowser.com/

[tomars]

http://www.download.com/Opera/3000-2356_4-10421507.html?tag=excl
http://my.opera.com/community/party/reg.dml

If you haven't already got Opera, it is free up until midnight tonight - go quick.

This is not spam by the way, its Opera's 10th birthday so they are giving free registration codes.

Edited August 30, 2005 by tomars

[Zxian]

Well... first off, Opera and Firefox are software, so they should go in that forum. Mods... please work your magic.

There have been posts about this before, but I don't think I've done as extensive of a description about Opera before. Sooo... here it is!

Note - I use Opera as my browser, but I always update and try out the latest release of Firefox. You can't make judgements about something if you haven't tried it.

1) Security - AntiPhishing, Spyware resistent, Anti-Autoinstall Software (some popups)

5)Popup Blocker

6)AdBlocker

I threw these topics together since they are somewhat related.Both do well. I use the pop-up blocker in Opera as well as the Opera Adblocker and I don't have any troubles with either. The Adblock extension in Firefox will do pretty much the same thing.

2)Speed - I have heard Opera is the fastest, but let me know

I have personally found Opera to be faster, but that could also be because I can't be bothered to dig around in 10-20ish settings just to increase my network speed. There are also some tweaks that work for some people and not for others (depending on computer, network, etc). Out of the box, Opera is much faster, but for the most part Firefox can do well.

3)How much time new bugs surface and thus updates out?

That really depends. The longest period of time that I've seen a security advisory on Secunia for Opera was about 3 days. There are still 3 unpatched security advisories for Firefox. They are listed as mild, but they're there.

4)Skin support

I will say this with absolute confidence - Opera is the king of UI customization. Firefox can't touch this with a 10 foot pole. In Opera, you can place buttons and toolbars wherever you want! Drag buttons around, move them from this toolbar to the next, etc, etc, etc. No amount of extensions will get you that level of customizability. There are plenty of skins out there for both, so I'm sure that you can find one that suits your tastes, but for the rest of the UI...Opera.

7)Plugins

I run Opera all day with all kinds of plugins. Sure, it can be a bit different at first to get quicktime or WMV to play in the browser, but in the end it does work beautifully. I can't comment on Firefox here, since I don't use it enough to that extent.

8)Any known Compatibility issues.

Are you talking about rendering or program compatibility? For the former, there are some sites that won't render properly in Opera since they send it bad HTML upon IDing the browser. A simple addition to the ua.ini file will solve that. For the latter, there are none that I can think of. Like with #7, I can't say all too much about Firefox. If there's a site that I simply can't go to in Opera (even after the ua.ini trick), I use Maxthon.

I know that there will be people who will write the other way, and that's fine. I'm just throwing out my opinion. I'm not saying that "Opera is better than Firefox", because the definition of "better" varies from person to person. I don't want any flaming.

In the end, only you can decide which is better. Download both (get your registration key from Opera.com today to get it for free) and use them solely for a week. If you can manage to find all the settings/extensions/plugins that you need and enjoy your browsing, then you've found a browser.

[DigeratiPrime]

1)Security

2)Speed

3)Bugs & Updates

4)Skin support

5)Popup Blocker

6)AdBlocker

7)Plugins

8)Any known Compatibility issues.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1) I would say they're about equal, if you couple Firefox with the NoScript Extension your ahead in terms of Security.

2) Opera renders faster particulary going back and forward between cached pages, Firefox is going to have this (enabled) in the next version. Otherwise they're about the same imo.

3) In my experience with Opera it crashed when i would open alot of tabs, that happens often when im reading wikipedia. Firefox has never crashed on me. Firefox is updated more often i would say.

4) No Idea, I just use the default theme.

5) I use Firefox, whats a popup?

6) The Adblock Plus Extension for Firefox is extremely powerful, Filterset.G is updated often and blocks nearly everything.

7) Windows Media, Quicktime, and Real Plugins work fine with Firefox, never needed to play with it.

8) Firefox is compatible with more Websites than Opera.

Please check out the Firefox Extensions in my signature, they're excellent!

[matthewk]

It is nice to have more comparisions about the two browsers, but here is the topic in software section. http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=54256

[atomizer]

this is a biased report. i installed opera today (since they're giving away licenses - today only) and i really have to give it more time. i use FF and have used IE in the past. i would put opera in the middle (anything is better than IE IMO, like telnet ). but, like i said, i have to give it more time.

somebody said

I will say this with absolute confidence - Opera is the king of UI customization. Firefox can't touch this with a 10 foot pole. In Opera, you can place buttons and toolbars wherever you want! Drag buttons around, move them from this toolbar to the next, etc, etc, etc. No amount of extensions will get you that level of customizability. There are plenty of skins out there for both, so I'm sure that you can find one that suits your tastes, but for the rest of the UI...Opera.

i gotta disagree. no offence at all, but FF can do all of that, and more -- no extensions needed. you can stick any button on any toolbar at any position and add/remove any toolbar as well.

your questions:

1)Security

i think opera and FF are both good.

2)Speed

loading speed? opera - no doubt.

rendering speed? can't say. i've read that opera renders faster, but i have FF tweaked so i'm not seeing a difference yet.

3)Bugs & Updates

far as i know both are quick to issue patches.

4)Skin support

can't say which is better. i don't use skins.

5)Popup Blocker

have to spend more time with opera, but its blocker seems to work well. i know FF works extremely well.

6)AdBlocker

again, i'd have to spend more time with opera, but i can tell you for a fact that "AdBlock Plus" for FF is outstanding!

7)Plugins

i'm going to separate your "plugins" into "plugins" and "addons".

Plugins:

both seem to support all the popular plugins (flash, shockwave, etc.).

Addons:

FF seems to have a huge advantage here with its extensions, however this seems to be a double edge sword: i like things clean and FF is pretty stripped down out-of-the-box. i like that because i can add the functionality i want rather than having it shoved down my throat. for instance, i see that opera comes with "voice controlled browsing", something i will never use. with FF, you add what you want. some people don't like this and just want to "use it" right out of the box. FF is not for them.

8)Any known Compatibility issues.

with what?

[Zxian]

somebody said

I will say this with absolute confidence - Opera is the king of UI customization. Firefox can't touch this with a 10 foot pole. In Opera, you can place buttons and toolbars wherever you want! Drag buttons around, move them from this toolbar to the next, etc, etc, etc. No amount of extensions will get you that level of customizability. There are plenty of skins out there for both, so I'm sure that you can find one that suits your tastes, but for the rest of the UI...Opera.

i gotta disagree. no offence at all, but FF can do all of that, and more -- no extensions needed. you can stick any button on any toolbar at any position and add/remove any toolbar as well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That someone was me...

The reason why I say that Opera is better when it comes to UI customization is because I can do something like this. As you can see, I have the same toolbar (more or less) above and below the tab bar, meaning that I can turn either of them off and have the tab bar exactly where I want it.This is something that I have never been able to do with Firefox. If you could show me, I'd be grateful.

Another point for Opera is that you have the ability to hide the menu bar, something that I'm fairly sure would require an extension in Firefox. There are a couple more points here that I could add here.

[atomizer]

i looked at your screenshot and i guess i'm not understanding you correctly. i don't know for sure what you're wanting to accomplish. look at these screens and see if this is what you wanted to do...

screen 1 - this is my default.

screen 2 - i tried to repeate what you did.

screen 3 - and again.

[ripken204]

wow opera is much faster than firefox! i need to give it some time too, need to find some themes.

edit: wow the opera themes suck compared to firefox

Edited August 31, 2005 by ripken204

[atomizer]

rip, you mean faster loading, or rendering... or both?

[ripken204]

rendering as in?

i meant loading times tho

just loading this forum takes 1-2 secs in opera, 4secs minimum in firefox

also in firefox i get alt of timeout errors, none in opera yet

Edited August 31, 2005 by ripken204

[atomizer]

yeah, i mean rendering as in how long it takes FF/Opera to load a page. by loading, i mean how long it takes the application to load, in which case Opera is a bit faster (less than 1 sec -vs- about 1.2 seconds for FF). i don't get the timeout errors though and it takes about 1-2 seconds to render the page in FF. if it takes longer it's almost always due to peoples avatars (off-site content) that FF has to retrieve from a 3rd party server. still, the contents of the page are always loaded in a second or two.

BTW, someone else linked to the "Tab Mix Plus" extension for FF and i just installed and configured it a little while ago. WOW! LOVE IT!

Edited August 31, 2005 by atomizer

[Zxian]

Hey atomizer... none of the screens are really what I wanted. In my screenshot, you can see that the tab bar is above the address bar. In all three of your screenshots, the tab bar is below the address bar.

As for the loading times, the time difference isn't that much in WindowsXP because of prefetching, but for other OSes (such as my Win2K at work, or any *nix OS) Opera is considerably faster (~1 seconds for Opera vs. 6ish for FF on my workstation - dual 2.4GHz Xeon, 1GB PC2700).

And yes... Tab Mix Plus is essential for FF.

[atomizer]

Zxian - ah, now i see. sometimes i'm a little retarded. no, i don't know of a way to relocate the tab bar higher up among the toolbars. lower, yes (at the bottom of the window). not higher though. wouldn't doubt if it can easily be done though.

oh, and i'm loading FF withOUT prefetching (disabled with nLite) -- about 2 seconds cold, 1.3 warm. i UPX compressed all its exe's and dll's even without doing that, loading was at about 3 sec cold and 1.5-2 warm.

and yeah, Tab Mix Plus rocks! i got rid of 2 other extensions because of it (FLST and Disable Targets for Download - or whatever it's called). down to 14, of which all the essential ones are in my sig.

Edited August 31, 2005 by atomizer