Opera

Opera 9.63

Do users have to pay for Opera?

Opera is entirely free of charge and ad-free since version 8.5. Premium support is still available.

How has Opera Software taken care to protect user’s privacy?

At Opera Software we do not monitor or provide information to any external parties about what our users do. We have chosen to use an external ad-broker to sell ads. The only information they receive is the entries that the user provides through the preferences (what kind of ads they prefer) and the ads the users have seen and clicked on. Users are not required to submit upfront profiling information before download of the browser.

For more details on how Opera protects user’s privacy, see our privacy statement.

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Technologies

Is Opera really faster?

Opera’s speed is the result of its tightly coded core and Opera’s rendering engine, which is designed to display the text of the page as quickly as possible. Plus, Opera offers quick navigation with keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures, as well as range of features for more efficient surfing, such as the option to open all your favorite pages at once. In addition, Opera is significantly faster on computers with lower modem speeds and weaker system resources.

Why is Opera more secure?

Opera’s tight code has been designed to keep users as safe as possible, resulting in the best security track record of any browser (www.secunia.com). To combat the growing threat of online fraud (phishing), Opera features a security information field that displays security certificate information and a security rating on secure sites, such as for shopping and banking. With this added information, users are better able to judge whether or not a site is trustworthy. Opera also displays the URL of anonymous pop-ups, so that the user is aware of the source of the advertisement. Opera also offers the strictest privacy settings in the industry, enabling users to remove all trace of their online activity with one click. In addition, Opera automatically checks for updates to make sure you will always have the latest version available.

How is Opera simpler than before?

Opera offers a simplified tabbed-browser user interface (UI). The default UI design is cleaner, more intuitive and allows for easy navigation. Moreover, users do not need to download additional extensions to access a wide range of features. Advanced features remain built-in and easily activated.

Does Opera support extensions?

Opera has incorporated some of the most useful and popular features in the browser itself, and holds itself accountable for the functionality of these features. With integrated features rather than extensions, users are not subjected to the vulnerabilities of extensions created by third parties, which may or may not go through a verification or testing process. In addition to the features that are built into the browser itself, Opera also supports some third party add-ons like plug-ins, skins, panels, custom menus and buttons, user scripts, and so on.

Does Opera support Java?

Opera by default does not come integrated with Java. Opera will prompt a Java download when a user visits a page that requires Java.

Does Opera support ActiveX and/or VBScript?

Opera does not support ActiveX. Opera Software is dedicated to supporting Internet standards. ActiveX is not a standard and will only work on Microsoft Windows. Opera Software takes pride in offering Opera on multiple operating systems. ActiveX is also the source of many security problems in Internet Explorer. We believe it is better to use Java to perform ActiveX tasks, so that our users can have a secure and standards-compliant Web browser.

The same reasoning applies to our decision not to support VBScript. For a good reference on this and other Microsoft security hazards, take a look at a C|Net article written by Paul Festa and Joe Wilcox on May 5th, 2000: Microsoft criticized for lack of software security.

How much of Internet Explorer/ Netscape Navigator does Opera use?

Absolutely nothing. Opera is an Internet browser built from scratch, and without using the existing code libraries that Internet Explorer and Netscape use. This makes Opera highly flexible and independent, which is apparent in the way the browser works.

Why do some Web pages render incorrectly in Opera?

The Opera browser is the strictest supporter of the W3Cs technical standards in the browser market today. This is done to ensure interoperability between browsers and hardware manufacturers, meaning that a Web page made in accordance with W3Cs recommendations is viewable with any browser-application an Internet user chooses. Unfortunately some Webmasters make their sites specific to one or the other browser’s proprietary standards. The result is that some sites effectively shut other browsers out, or their pages may look strange in them.

However, this is a transitional problem. With the advent of the wireless Internet, Webmasters must start complying to W3C standards, or else their pages will not be accessible to the majority of the Internet population. The two dominant browsers on the PCs are too bloated to fit into small, handheld devices.

Why does Opera always emphasize that it follows W3Cs standards?

Opera believes in an Internet where everyone can meet, innovate and thrive. For this to happen certain international standards must be followed by everyone. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) [www.w3.org] develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) that make this possible. We don’t want to own or monopolize the Internet, we want an Internet that stays true to its true ideals. For more on Opera’s values, take a look at Opera’s Mission.

What can I do to change Opera’s UI?

To customize your browser simply select Tools > Appearance. Users can then choose to change skins, toobars, panels and buttons, or create their own at my.opera.com.

What is the Opera Composer?

The customization of Opera doesn’t end with applying different skins or buttons to your browser’s interface. You can design your own Web browser with the Opera Composer. Spend 5 minutes and use predesigned buttons and images, or spend a whole day creating your own button and image sets before you design your own Web browser in the Opera Composer. When you are finished, you can distribute your Web browser to other members of a group for free. Design your own Web browser at composer.opera.com.

Do plug-ins work with Opera?

Yes. Opera’s plug-in API is very similar to Netscape’s, meaning that most plug-ins that work with Netscape also work with Opera.

Does the Voice feature in Opera work for visually impaired people?

Opera is not currently recommended as a replacement for screen readers, though Voice may be an appealing feature for those with residual vision.

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Opera and the competition

Your competitors are multi-billion dollar corporations. How can you succeed?

Douglas Adams wrote in his excellent book “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish” in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy [...] says of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation products that ‘it is very easy to be blinded to the essential uselessness of them by the sense of achievement you get from getting them to work at all.’ In other words — and this is the rock-solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation’s Galaxywide success is founded — their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.

Adams, Douglas

(The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide. Random House, New York, 1996: 594)

Opera will succeed because it is a better product, therefore providing a Better Internet Experience on Any Device.

What about the other, smaller competitors?

Browsers seems to surface almost weekly, but most of them disappear almost as soon as they appear. It takes time and dedication to make a great browser, especially one that supports standards such as CSS and JavaScript.

You are located so far away from where the real action takes place. That must be a disadvantage?

Our location is to our advantage. Opera Software ASA is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. The Nordic and North European region is the undisputed world leader in Internet and mobile technologies, and as such is an ideal place for a player in the Internet device market.

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Mobile — Smartphones and PDAs

What distinguishes Opera from other mobile browsers?

Opera made the full Web useful on mobile devices for the first time with its revolutionary, browser featured technology Small-Screen RenderingTM (SSR). SSR intelligently reformats today’s Web sites to fit inside the small-screen fixed widths of mobile devices, thereby eliminating the need for horizontal scrolling.

How does Small-Screen Rendering work?

As an example, most news sites have a center column where the main article text is located. This column is usually 468 pixels wide, due to the standard ad-banner sizes, and the text is set to fill this width. This means that to read an article on a handheld, users would have to scroll back and forth for every line of text.

With SSR, the page is reformatted to align the content in an accommodating order consistent with the vertical scrolling experience users are familiar with from their desktop. All the content and functionality remain available, it is only the layout of the page that is changed.

The SSR feature is also a working function in Opera’s desktop browser. By commanding this feature, users will see how a Web site will look when accessed by a mobile device. This option is meant to help developers build pages that are also user friendly on a handheld.

Find out more on Opera’s SSR at www.opera.com/products/smartphone/smallscreen

What devices is Opera available for?

You can see which products Opera is available for at Mobile products page.

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Other

Is Opera a publicly listed company?

Opera is a publicly listed company on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Refer to our Investor Relations pages for up-to-date details.

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