When using Opera 6.x, I need to set the browser to identify itself as MS IE in order for the menus to work.

Scott

After a little research, I think I may have come up with a fix. Please let me know if it works any better now when you're using "Identify as Opera".

Sandy

Sandy,

Looks good! Many, many web sites are broken when it comes to the more rigidly compliant browsers like Opera, and USUALLY the webmasters could care less. Thanks for fixing this!

Scott

Wow, that was easy. I was afraid I was going to end up downloading Opera just to see what you were talking about!

I'm glad it's working now, but to be totally honest with you, my first reaction was pretty much the "couldn't care less" one you mentioned. It just so happened this particular bug was easy to identify and repair.

Without any intention of starting a browser war, do you mind if I ask why you use software than doesn't work (or work as expected) with "many websites"? Personally, as a web developer, I'm all for the one-browser world. The day Netscape finally went belly up, I felt a great weight lift off my shoulders.

Sandy

Opera is faster to load and faster to download when a new version comes out, which isn't often since the developers are firmly against "bloatware" like IE.

Opera doesn't need to be patched every week to prevent 12 year olds from half a world away from figuring out what color your underwear is.

When IE crashes, there go ALL your IE windows which were open at the time. Will they be listed in the browser history list for easy future retrieval? Maybe. Depends on how/when it crashed. With Opera, all browser windows are child windows within a single application instance. If it should crash (rare I say!), all your current windows have already been saved to a .win file and will open right back up the next time you start Opera.

Opera is also quite configurable. You can create your own menus or buttons by way of a powerful scripting language.

Opera supports "mouse gestures". While reading a web site, if there is a link that interests me, but I don't want to interupt what I am reading at the moment, I can open it as a new page behind the one I am currently reading with no more than a flick of my wrist.

Etc.

Scott

I have just completely converted to the new version of Mozilla Firebird 0.6.

This is a worthy browser to replace the dying IE.

I know it's been mentioned in the past that people have been having trouble logging into ebay using opera. I just downloaded version 7.23 and all of those problems went away. Just FYI

-d

Sandy, I hope you realize Netscape used all the same programming as Mozilla, and Mozilla is still going strong. I use it quite often. It's much more stable and faster than IE.

As a person who used to make a living programming internet sites and apps, believe me, I am aware, although I have to wonder what you mean by "still going strong". There is no question that the Netscape/Mozilla solution lost market share incredibly fast, and that the folding of the Netscape browser brand has all but driven it off the radar screen of clients hiring people like me to develop web solutions. The facts are, something like 92% of all browser users are using IE5 or IE6, while less than 5% are using things like Netscapes, Mozillas, Operas, etc... none of which make up more than a single percent of overall usage.

From the client's point of view, it just doesn't make good business sense to spend much more than a few percent of your project's budget trying to solve annoying little compatability issues with non IE 5+ browsers.

I'd really like to avoid a browser argument, so please keep in mind that I'm not saying one browser is better than another, merely which browser is most widely used, and therefore supported. Whether we like it or not, IE has captured the market, and I suspect they will retain it as long the term "browser" is applicable... which may not be much longer, or so the experts say.

Sandy

I can't say what the market share is. I've got a windows machine a few months ago only. Naturally with absence of Windows, whatever choice of the internet browser I have it's not the Internet Explorer as it runs on Windows platform only. What's the market share of Linux and other unices? I have no idea...

Last month's numbers from thecounter.com:

1. Win XP 194481125 (51%)
2. Win 98 102087906 (27%)
3. Win 2000 50011682 (13%)
4. Unknown 10804755 (2%)
5. Win NT 8137191 (2%)
6. Mac 5424637 (1%)
7. Win 95 3099680 (0%)
8. Linux 857317 (0%)
9. Win 3.x 669941 (0%)
10. WebTV 396800 (0%)
11. Unix 99562 (0%)
12. Win ME 91735 (0%)
13. OS/2 7867 (0%)
14. Amiga 1465 (0%)

The various versions of Windows are over 93%. Mac, Linux and Unix barely register, as you might expect. When the average guy goes out to buy a new computer, he doesn't know what the difference between a Pentium 4 and a G4 is, nor does he care. He just knows he wants to get on the net and start browsing for reflectoporn.

Macs are more expensive and only seem to target artists or students, and I suspect most computer stores wouldn't bother to sell you a preinstalled Linux box even if you asked. The path of least resistance is with Windows XP (these days) and IE6... which is clearly reflected in stats sites like the above.

Sandy

Well, that's some pretty impressive chart! You clearly made you point, Sandy!

Yeah, but all of the art world is on a Mac. Hollywood uses macs, the art department here uses macs... I have both. I use the mac for all my serious artwork and my windows laptop for browsing and downloading.