Comments on: Why Are Users Not Switching to Opera? http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/ Thoughts on Strategy and Web Design Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:26:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0-RC2 By: enigma http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-43868 enigma Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:26:23 +0000 http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/02/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-43868 I suggest people look for enigma browser and download it from http://store.democratz.org You can find the link just above the products and you can download it for free. Engima runs faster than Firefox and you can easily run 32 tabs and not slow down the machine. I suggest people look for enigma browser and download it from http://store.democratz.org

You can find the link just above the products and you can download it for free.

Engima runs faster than Firefox and you can easily run 32 tabs and not slow down the machine.

]]> By: TheSaint http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-43635 TheSaint Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:53:33 +0000 http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/02/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-43635 No offense people but you are all thinking from an experienced computer users point of view, In reality the issue is one of branding - most computers these days are sold with windows installed and with windows comes explorer. The average home user will not be aware that thier are alternative browsers worth the effort as most are really only apparent if you start looking for them. in order to become more prominent in the market browsers such as opera and firefox need to raise awareness of their product through market advertising and word of mouth. I speak from experience having recently switched from ie to opera 9 after hearing someone mention it at a party - prior to that I wouldnt have bothered switching as I could see nothing wrong with ie The Saint No offense people but you are all thinking from an experienced computer users point of view, In reality the issue is one of branding – most computers these days are sold with windows installed and with windows comes explorer. The average home user will not be aware that thier are alternative browsers worth the effort as most are really only apparent if you start looking for them. in order to become more prominent in the market browsers such as opera and firefox need to raise awareness of their product through market advertising and word of mouth.
I speak from experience having recently switched from ie to opera 9 after hearing someone mention it at a party – prior to that I wouldnt have bothered switching as I could see nothing wrong with ie
The Saint

]]> By: Andrew http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-43618 Andrew Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:09:30 +0000 http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/02/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-43618 A few more things, I'm not sure if Firefox has this, but the content blocker has come in very usefull in Opera. Sometimes when a webpages has a flashy advertisement going off making the reading of the actual content of the webpage ...well it's like someone waving their hands in front of you while you try to read a book, the content blocker can wipe that out of the page most of the time. A few more things, I’m not sure if Firefox has this, but the content blocker has come in very usefull in Opera. Sometimes when a webpages has a flashy advertisement going off making the reading of the actual content of the webpage …well it’s like someone waving their hands in front of you while you try to read a book, the content blocker can wipe that out of the page most of the time.

]]> By: Andrew http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-43617 Andrew Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:01:36 +0000 http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/02/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-43617 I started with opera and have not used Firefox very much so it hsn't been much of an issue of comparison for me. The things about Opera that work so well is the long side bar going across the whole length of the left edge which open up bookmarks and other features. There is no need to pinpoint the mouse on any icon, one just needs to pull the mouse as far left as possible and click. The mouse gestures are also great. Some of the very usefull ones do not require any use of the keyboard. There certainly is room for improvement though. I'd like to see an easy setup utitlty to set up multiple accounts of Opera. That way if I start a research project I can create a new account, and customize Opera just for that project. I started with opera and have not used Firefox very much so it hsn’t been much of an issue of comparison for me. The things about Opera that work so well is the long side bar going across the whole length of the left edge which open up bookmarks and other features. There is no need to pinpoint the mouse on any icon, one just needs to pull the mouse as far left as possible and click.

The mouse gestures are also great. Some of the very usefull ones do not require any use of the keyboard.

There certainly is room for improvement though. I’d like to see an easy setup utitlty to set up multiple accounts of Opera. That way if I start a research project I can create a new account, and customize Opera just for that project.

]]> By: Chase-san http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-9591 Chase-san Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:22:07 +0000 http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/02/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-9591 I use opera 9 now, and personally I love it, I have used it since version 8, I tried firefox for awhile but the first yime I popped open Opera 8 it felt alot lighter, alot faster and alot less time consuming to use. I liked the fact it had a built in web mail client. That was so perfect I instantly kicked Microsoft Outlook and didn't even consider looking into thunderbird. After a little looking I found that though Opera had a few quirks (trust me I can name thousands on firefox and billions more on IE), it like all the other browsers have its ups and downs. It was much better then IE for reasons I won't bring up (though i'm sure most firefox/opera users know of). Opera 9 is well, its fast, and it supports most things that firefox does and many things that it doesn't (and visa versa), opera is working to helping disabled people use the internet (sounds stupid? I hope not) and instead of pumping up piles of rendering css put more work into verbal and sound css. However everyone says Opera 9 passes the ACID 2 test, and the only people I hear saying said test doesn't matter is people using browsers that do not conform to the test. All in all I support opera, its easy to customize, use and understand if you give it more the a passing glance. (The features that opera comes stock with beats the pants off all the others, though after a few extra hours of searching for and downloading extensions, firefox catches up rather well) I use opera 9 now, and personally I love it, I have used it since version 8, I tried firefox for awhile but the first yime I popped open Opera 8 it felt alot lighter, alot faster and alot less time consuming to use.
I liked the fact it had a built in web mail client. That was so perfect I instantly kicked Microsoft Outlook and didn’t even consider looking into thunderbird.

After a little looking I found that though Opera had a few quirks (trust me I can name thousands on firefox and billions more on IE), it like all the other browsers have its ups and downs. It was much better then IE for reasons I won’t bring up (though i’m sure most firefox/opera users know of).

Opera 9 is well, its fast, and it supports most things that firefox does and many things that it doesn’t (and visa versa), opera is working to helping disabled people use the internet (sounds stupid? I hope not) and instead of pumping up piles of rendering css put more work into verbal and sound css.

However everyone says Opera 9 passes the ACID 2 test, and the only people I hear saying said test doesn’t matter is people using browsers that do not conform to the test.

All in all I support opera, its easy to customize, use and understand if you give it more the a passing glance.

(The features that opera comes stock with beats the pants off all the others, though after a few extra hours of searching for and downloading extensions, firefox catches up rather well)

]]> By: ChrisA http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-9180 ChrisA Mon, 28 Aug 2006 21:34:35 +0000 http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/02/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-9180 I tried Opera a while back (ver 6 & 7) and became completely frustrated with several items. 1. When it would hang up or abend you had a heck of a time resetting your preferences & links/bookmarks. 2. Pages did not often display correctly. But the BIG annoyance was the handling of media files (it required way too much work to install/configure plugins to play media files correctly. 3. Too much work managing my bookmarks. . . I had a LOT. After firefox came out I switched over even though I had a paid version of Opera. . . not going back anytime soon. I tried Opera a while back (ver 6 & 7) and became completely
frustrated with several items.

1. When it would hang up or abend you had a heck of a time
resetting your preferences & links/bookmarks.

2. Pages did not often display correctly. But the BIG annoyance
was the handling of media files (it required way too much work
to install/configure plugins to play media files correctly.

3. Too much work managing my bookmarks. . . I had a LOT.

After firefox came out I switched over even though I had a paid
version of Opera. . . not going back anytime soon.

]]> By: Eve15 http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-9000 Eve15 Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:20:42 +0000 http://lesliefranke.com/2006/08/02/why-are-users-not-switching-to-opera/#comment-9000 So true! I gave Opera 9 a try but Firefox is much easier to control, customize, use, and understand. And Firefox just keeps getting better! So true! I gave Opera 9 a try but Firefox is much easier to control, customize, use, and understand. And Firefox just keeps getting better!

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