Inner Beauty Doesn't Count
I got tagged ages ago by ResearchWizard about which 5 things I want to see in Opera. I finally decided to get off my lazy ass and blog. Or actually it meant that I had to sit my lazy ass down in front of the computer and blog.
It wasn't easy to do this because many of the things I want I cannot talk about. So I decided to not talk too much about mobile browsers and concentrate on how I use the Opera desktop browser as a tool to get my work done. I use it quite extensively for other tasks than just browsing. I for example, use it for e-mails, as a notepad, and I use it for keeping track of friends through RSS feeds (and Facebook). The latter seems to have killed pretty much any blogging but that is another story :) .
The first problem I have is that I have three different computers I regularly work on and a mobile phone all equipped with Opera. I would love to be able to share for example my bookmarks and which RSS feeds I have already read. I hate having to set the same feed as read multiple times on different computers.
Another problem I have at work is that I need to encrypt some of my e-mails and I would really like to see PGP inbuilt into M2 in a nice, user friendly way. I am not a security freak and would never dream of encrypting anything private but I have to do it at work and hence expect it to just work... Doing copying and pasting into M2 from an external tool isn't exactly the safest most reliable way.
I want an inbuilt spell checker that doesn't require me to install anything extra and set it up. I frequently install new versions of Opera and there is no way I have time to install it every time. It should work out of the box. It is a bit embarrassing to send e-mails full of spelling errors to customers... and don't forget about my blogs.
Something that annoys me almost everyday is the password manager. Why can't it prefill the fields (with a drop down if there are more than one login)? It would be nice if it was a bit less buggy too.
And last but not least the shallow me really wants a prettier browser. A new logo maybe, better graphical design of the user interface... Sure Opera has plenty of inner beauty but that doesn't really count for browsers :) .
There finally! I wrote a blog. Lets see how long it takes for me to write another one :) .
P.S. Dear Santa, I also want a calender which I can synchronize between all my Opera versions. Oh and if you could add a time machine in there...
Have any openings?
Any jobs at Opera for a mechanical engineer who hacks real-time system software and writes management software in... Visual Basic!?!?!
I'm ready to move to Oslo. I read this:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=286721&cid=20456723
It is all about being creative!
Tja, might be a bit tricky to find the exact position but I am sure we can find you something :) . Isn't it just to pick up a C++ book ;) ?
Sell it to me
Sorry for being a pain in the ass, but...
Why would a user like me bother downloading Opera when there are open source alternatives? What differentiates Opera (the browser) from its competition? And in 30 words or less, what's the business model for making money with this product?
I can understand running Opera instead of Microsoft crap on mobile devices if it's available there, but I'm allergic to mobile devices. The last thing I need in my life right now is a web browser that fits in my pocket.
I'd need a good reason to switch from Firefox on the desktop. The issue of standards-compliance is important to me in principle, but not in practice as a user : people are not styling web sites to work in Opera and break in IE and Firefox.
From where I sit, the cool thing about Opera is that Hakon Lie and mediumgeek work there :) ...
Use the Source, Luke?
Personally, I couldn't care less about open or closed sources. As long as I'm not in the mood of trying to understand or hack the code, I'm perfectly happy with proprietary code, as long as the input and output conforms to some standard. Even in the cases when I want to change the behavior in a software product, I tend to give up trying to understand someone else's code, and seriously consider what it takes to write my own.
I suppose in an open source project you are not as dependent on one developer or company, but on the other hand, I'm afraid everyone involved will expect someone else to do the work.
As for security, in theory an advanced user (you?) could browse through the code so it doesn't do anything nasty, but how often do you have that option? Although I don't use Opera myself, I doubt any serious software company - Microsoft included - would allow code to compromise the users to let through.
I agree on standards compliance should also be spiced with supporting de-facto practises. If I remember correctly, Opera a few years ago was very anal (sorry) when it came to not supporting Microsoft, Netscape or other non-standard extentions that a lot of people happened to use anyway. It is like the evil grandmother who never gives her grandchildren anything sweet because it is bad for them, although she knows they crave sweets and one or two pieces of candy won't damage their health. Perhaps more recent editions of the Opera web browser is more liberal, or the practise on developing web pages has changed to be more according to W3C defined standards.
It should just work!
Yes, you are right! Opera has sometimes been a bit to anal in supporting non standards. I think we are getting better though but I think we will never support some things that have too many security holes *cough couple microsoft things*.
I generally work under the principle, it should just work! Before it used to be difficult to use Opera since there were so many pages that didn't work but now it is rare that you run into problems. I am pretty sure though that we are being too stubborn on few things.
I don't like your grandmother argument though... candy is bad for you and I wish nobody had ever fed me candy... I am trying to stop eating it and it is _very_ difficult. Those one or two pieces easily become a bucket :) . But anyway, that was a sidetrack.
The Dark Side
I understand your point of view - it's very practical. I prefer open source for philosophical reasons as much as practical ones.
I work in the flight simulation industry where controlling knowledge is big part of the business strategy, often at the expense of the product itself.
I spend every day dealing with "black boxes", stuff that comes from either aircraft or sim manufacturers who don't want us to peek inside. I've spent hundreds (thousands?) of hours tuning and patching my way around stuff that doesn't work exactly like it should. If I could have invested that time in debugging the _causes_ of these problems, the machines would be running better and I would have really learned/fixed something. I would be a better engineer. But no : I'm a plumber, running from one leak to another, putting more duct tape on top of the old duct tape to keep anybody from noticing the problems.
I believe it's critical for software to be free (as in speech).
The fact that we don't make full use of our freedom of speech doesn't make it any less important. The fact that I'm not trying to organize my own political party doesn't mean it's unimportant to have that right. Freedom needs to be there all the time, so that it's available when you need it. And if you don't make use of your freedoms, maybe someone else will and we'll still all benefit.
So when I get home from work, I refuse to deal with more black boxes. Even if I don't feel like looking through the code today, I like to know that I can.
Darn!
Ok, I don't I think I will be able to "sell" Opera to you :) You have a valid point. It wouldn't be valid for me though. Even as a programmer myself a lot would need to happen for me to go in and fix something and then compile a new version :) .
Oh well, I guess we will have to make some killer feature that convinces you ;) .
There is a reason why I don't work in sales...
What? You are saying it is not enough of a sales argument that me and Håkon work there!! I am shocked! :)
It is a bit difficult to beat the open source argument. Opera's source will probably never be available to the public so if you need access to the source code Firefox would be your bet. I think however that many people think of open source software in a more idealistic sense. Developer developing software in their free time without aiming for profit. As I understand it, corporations like Google are throwing quite a lot of money into Firefox development. They are earning money too on things like search. I kind of tend to look at Opera as the little cute underdog that is trying to stay alive but still maintains its ethics of supporting standards. No, supporting standars doesn't really help users in the practical sense but it is a good thing in the long run. So a little well behaving cute underdog would be nice to support to ensure that we don't end up with only two browser giants controlled completely by Microsoft and Google :) .
Looking at which features make Opera worth using. My top picks would be mouse gestures, ability to customize search (right click, Create search...), inbuilt bittorrent, inbuilt mail/rss client... And this without having to install extensions which I would never get around to installing. Mouse guestures and being able to type g and what I want to search for in the address bar are what make me uncapable of using any other browser.
Opera's strategy is earning money on search/customization and selling licences for operators/phone manufacturers to install. So the desktop version is free for you to try ;) .
No, this was not 30 words or less and no, I am not much of a sales person :) .
Yes, yes, yes but we wont get, get, get
Ger∂ur,
great seeing you out there in the blog-o-sphere. Had Opera been bigger, perhaps you could have found the way to the Desktop developers using Google Maps.
All of the above has been on the tdl for some time. If you ask anyone in Products they get a strange smile, which is supposed to tell you: just wait and see, but it is just an empty non committing respons.
Opera could and should have synched a long time ago
Opera could have been the bridge between devices
Opera could have ...... yiippi ka wii and archcoshoo!!
Gesundheit!
Opera remains a browser with keyboard shortcuts, tabs, and quickshow. None of them refined, none really usefull, but some may save you some time.
QuickShow
set timer switch from link to link based on type
create archive for offline view
M2
select top or bottom entry on reply
html option
spell checker (but of course in forms and fields too)
Upload
Flicker, YouTube, Photobucket, Facebook, MyOpera, etc.
Download
All links on page based on filetype or all
Create archive, frontpage to access content
Optional store in myopera.com folder for access on any device
Wand/Password/Form help
password was supposedly just a start
where is the rest?
and so much more........
1 priority - time machine
Hello :)
These days a map of the office is actually needed. It has gotten quite big and you sometimes run into people that you had almost forgotten worked there, since it is so long since you saw them last :) .
There is definitely a lot of stuff Opera can add. Most have probably been talked about at one point or another but it is this odd thing called limited time that seems to get in our way :) . Maybe the best would be to make Opera into a time machine and then we can do everything :-D
Silence isn't always Golden
Gorgeous, intelligent, kind, sweet, charming, witty, hilarious, friendly...well enough about ME! How are you geeky?
Whats happened to your blog its dead!
FRIEND SEARCH: Friend detector activated...calibration complete, now searching.....still searching....still searching......sorry, no friends found.
U got Sex Appeal...U got Class...U got Moves...U got da Face, da Body....sh*t...I got wrong forum link...SORRY :)
AND REMEMBER
If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me :P
Hello!
The blog is hibernating? Blogs can do that can't they...
Good to see that you are well judging by you hyperactive comment ;) .
Wake Up!
I'm sick but come out with bursts of hyperactivity now and again but my psychiatrist doesn't have a name for the condition.
A family of moles had been hibernating all winter. One beautiful spring morning, they woke up. The father mole stuck his head out of the hole and looked around. "Mother Mole!" He called back down the hole. "Come up here! I smell honey, fresh made honey!"
The mother mole ran up and squeezed in next to him. "That's not honey, that's maple syrup! I smell maple syrup!"
The baby mole, still down in the hole, was sulking. "I can't smell anything down here but molasses...."