Consider Opera For Your Browser Needs

[Donald Darden]

I just set up a new PC for a client, and was impressed because IE actually performed rathher decently on it.  Of course having a Dual Core processor and running at over 3 GHz might have helped.

I do a lot of major downloads, especially since I started tinkering with some of the Linux distributions.  I can really only do this because I have a high speed internet connection.  If I were still on dialup, as some people are, I would have to order CDs or DVDs instead.  The costs are usually reasonable, and I found that you can get Linux CDs or DVDs from various sources, including eBay,

On my older PC, IE is a real dog.  I never use it for anything except Windows updates, which mandate its use.  I much prefer using FireFox.  But I found that FireFox can get dogged down when downloading files from certain sites.  And that Opera is much better at making these download efforts run in the background.  Another thing I like about Opera is that you can tell it where to put each download individually, unlike FireFox where the download location that is a separate entry under preferences.

And one last thing I like about Opera is that it seems to do a better job in keeping text sizing consistent when used with a Linux Distribution than the IceWeasel/IceCat/Firefox counterpart.

O)h, I should mention that Opera also handles BitTorrent file transfers transparently.  At least it does in the Linux version.  This is real nice, and very handy if you want to download any DVDs rather than settle for compressed or condensed versions on CDs.

[Charles Pegge]

Donald, I had a circular in my email a few days ago announcing that cnr.com is now available to Ubuntu users, as well as Linspire and Freespire users. It can install a huge range of packages from its repository by automating .deb and .rpm installations. It can also do automatic updating, when new package versions come on-line.

[MikeTrader]

If we could create an instance of either Firefox or Opera in our PB apps like we can with IE, I would be very excited. Is it even possible in the current versions?

[Donald Darden]

Mike, I am not exactly sure of what you are saying.  What do you mean by "instance"?  I've noted that if I click a link in a document, such as an email, that IE will begin a session and take me to the corresponding site.  This does not appear to work with FireFox, unless Firefox already has a session started.  It could also be checked using Netscape, Opera, and other browsers.

It's a nice feature, but I am not sure if that is what you are referring to or not.

[José Roca]

 

What do you mean by "instance"?

To embed the browser in a dialog or a window.

Microsoft has implemented the WebBrowser control (not the same that Internet Explorer, that is an application that uses this control) as an ActiveX, making it modular and reusable. The other browsers use C classes, so only can be reused by C programmers. There is an ActiveX wrapper for FireFox, but is incomplete, unsupported and outdated.

[Donald Darden]

Okay, I understand somewhat better what you mean.  The thing with ActiveX is that it's a turn-off.  In fact, people will assume that you are up to no good if you tell them that they have to enable ActiveX for your application to work.  So is this really something that makes much difference?  I mean, conceptually it does, but in a practical sense, how critical is this?

[José Roca]

 

In fact, people will assume that you are up to no good if you tell them that they have to enable ActiveX for your application to work.

You don't have to. Is not the same to run an application that uses an ActiveX already installed in your computer, that allowing the browser to load and/or install an ActiveX referenced in a web page.

[Donald Darden]

I just tried Orbit Download Manger, and found it faster than the download mangers that come in IE, Firefox, Opera, or Netscape.  It was even faster than DAP.  Best of all, it is free.  In fact, it was about twice as fast as the downloader in Opera.