Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, Universal Binary
Opera 9 goes Universal
Opera, the little browser that could (and did - go free, that is), has finished its beta and reached version 9, going Universal in the process. New features include:- a built-in BitTorrent client
- adding your favorite search engines to Opera's search bar simply by right-clicking them
- site-specific preferences for cookies, pop-ups, etc.
- thumbnail previews of tabs when hovering over them
- widgets (hey, at least they didn't call 'em 'gadgets')
- customizable content blocker
- and more
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GmanMac said 3:59PM on 6-20-2006
Opera's been a trail blazer from the get go.
I think they got a bad rap when they had an ad supported version or a pay version. The ad was minimally intrusive, and the browser was cutting edge at the time and still free with the unobtrusive ad banner. It was a small price to pay. Of course now there is no ad banner so it’s even worth more of a look.
But this helped Firefox gain in popularity since it was totally free from the get go. Meanwhile Opera got a bit of unfair rap and was moslty overlooked, but it still implements some features liked tabbed browsing better than any other browser.
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kevin said 4:46PM on 6-20-2006
except opera calls a new tab a "new page" so that you have to hit something like command + n to get a new tab. that's just ridiculous. but i'm genuinely curious, how does opera do tabbed browsing "better" than firefox or safari?
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l0ne said 4:49PM on 6-20-2006
The cool thing is that Opera's widgets are made more or less like Dashboard's and share even some code compatibility (i.e. it can be trivial to repackage a very simple widget from Dashboard to run cross-platform with Opera).
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VV said 4:56PM on 6-20-2006
#2:
New tab: Command + T
New window: Command + N
At least get your facts straight before complaining about something.
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GmanMac said 5:02PM on 6-20-2006
2. Well for one thing it has a saved tabbed feature. (as far as I know Safari doesn’t with an add in) So when you exit out your browser and reopen, all the tabs you had open reopen automatically. This is really handy for always keeping your favorite links, like TUAW up and running. It's also handy for opening a link you want to read later but don't have time and might otherwise forget and don’t want to bookmark. Even if you close out for some reason, it'll still be waiting for you when you reopen.
It also now has tabbed pane view so when you hover your mouse over the tab you get a mini preview of the link. A nice feature when you routinely keep 20 or more tabbed websites open at one time like I do.
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kevin said 5:34PM on 6-20-2006
VV, are you stupid? what facts? unless they corrected this in the new version, it was always command + n for a new tab.
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Joel said 7:55PM on 6-20-2006
kevin,
VW is correct. CMD+T for new tab, CMD+N for new window.
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kevin said 10:04PM on 6-20-2006
opera version 8.54
open app
press cmd + t
it bookmarks a page for me
press cmd + n
it creates a new tab
i didnt miss anything did i?
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SuitCase said 10:20PM on 6-20-2006
Kevin - Opera recently changed the terminology to "tabs" instead of "pages" (I think in 8.5), and they now use Cmd-t for new tab instead of Cmd-n as it indeed was before. This was mainly done to placate Firefox users and future IE7 users, however it is debatable whether this was that obvious a choice to make - as Opera pretty much defined the way tabbed browsers should work, with Mozilla being the first ones to deviate. Imagine it like Apple finally giving in and making ReturnEnter launch the selected file in Finder.
It's worth noting that changing the shortcuts takes a matter of minutes in Opera's extensive keyboard shortcut panel. I personally use the old ones (Cmd-N for new tab) as they make more sense to me. Also, Opera does do tabs better than the competition - it's very robust (100+ tabs do not cause a problem), the tab bar can be organised in several different ways, it's had draggable tabs for years, new features like lockable tabs, features to duplicate or create linked tabs, strong support for sessions (workspaces in Omniweb), etc etc. Try it out, it's a lot more mature than the tab systems of other browsers and feels that way, too.
Opera's doing really well on the Mac now, I think anyone who finds Safari a bit too limiting (this includes those that mess with Saft, or use Camino with Camitools, etc) should go check out Opera and see if it suits them better. Its interface is still a bit plain, but it's infinitely more customisable, offers way more features than even Omniweb and is in most respects smaller and faster than the competition.
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rusic said 2:31AM on 6-21-2006
^opera on mac is slow as hell... I've been opera fan on my PC desktop for couple of years but when I use my mac-s (power mac G5 on work, power book G4 on the go) the only choice is FireFox (with lot's of extensions to have some sort of opera look and feel)... maybe opera 9 runs great on new intel machines... I hope so...
PS google browser sync is the only thing that I miss in opera... It's the best extension out there
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John Main said 8:13AM on 6-21-2006
I can't seem to get any plug-ins to work in Opera 9. (No Flash, No quicktime etc)
Anyone else have this issue?
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kevin said 10:36AM on 6-21-2006
thats great then, too bad they had to change the way they do tabs but its for the best in the long run.
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ac said 8:34AM on 6-24-2006
To get back to that old ctrl+n for a tab, if anyone besides myself got used to it (and call firefox the non-corforming browser)
Tools->Preferences->Shortcuts
Select Opera Standard
Click Edit
Find the n ctrl
Change it to "New Page, 1"
Back to the old ctrl+n for a new tab, the way its meant to be :)
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Chuck Rasmus said 9:17PM on 6-28-2006
Well, I've done everything I can think of, and I've still not discovered how to find the "preferences" location. i.e. to save a home page etc.... Opera 9 on an iMac PPC G5 any help out there?
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kevin said 12:59AM on 7-09-2006
joel, i was obviously talking about the old version of opera, before this version 9
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