Firefox has everything I need in a Browser. As has Chrome. Or Safari. I don’t need all that stuff Opera can do.
That's right Jack, all the functionality you're using in a browser is the one Internet Explorer 6 has. Sadly, most of the people using the browsers you mentioned do the same.
The world you live in is the cave mentioned by Plato. You have never went outside and see there's so much things a browser can do, you're content in your small little world thinking "meh, my browser already has anything I would ever need".
Wrong. You could use a better interaction with the browser, you could use some extra features to make your life easier and stop checking your webmail when you have pop3 and smtp. You could have a lot of things if you would just come out of the cave.
Sure thing, Firefox has the extensions, but Chrome does not. You're missing out on a lot of functionality that you never knew existed.
How are you supposed to know that there is such a thing since you usually search for an extension when you KNOW you need (such as ad-block) but it never occurs to you that you might use a neat clever feature? You're stuck in the dark because you don't know light exists.
I never said that I will never use extensions. I never said that I will never use Opera. I have Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Opera on my HDD and ready to go. If somebody on HN or anywhere else tells me about a cool new extension or a cool new feature I will of course want to try it out. I love doing that, I really do!
It’s just that for my day to day usage I have until now always returned to vanilla Safari [+]. That’s just how it is and I can’t change it. That’s how I like it best.
[+] The only extension I have installed is ClickToFlash.
Here is a quick tutorial for Opera - http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/gestures/
And also in Opera you can go back/forward by using the following combos:
1. press right mouse button 2. left click 3. release right button (back)
1. press left mb 2. right click 3. release left mb (forward)
I don’t really know what Opera has to offer and I don’t really know why I should. If Opera is unable to get the message across to someone like me then good luck reaching the rest of humanity.
I obviously have Opera on my system but I haven’t opened it for weeks or months. All I see when I open it are non-native controls and features I don’t need and use (those icons in the status bar for example). I prefer something lean and minimal like Chrome or Safari.
Maybe you really need that feature that only Opera has – use Opera and be happy! Just don’t expect that the rest of humanity is exactly like you.
Obviously Opera has crap marketing but that's because it assumes intelligent users that will bother to take 10 seconds and read about its features.
Here, if you want a quick fix: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_browser_features
You say you prefer something lean and minimal. How exactly is Opera slow and bloated by comparison? If you haven't used it for a couple of weeks and learned what it can do I think you're passing judgment too easily. Opera has a lot of great stuff other browser don't have, you just need to be a bit curios and not wait the information to be spoon-fed to you.
I don't have a problem with you or anyone else using another browser but I don't like people saying things without full knowledge of the facts.
Opera Unite? what? why? I just want a web browser. I don't want a web server or file sharing solution.
This is the main reason I don't run Opera apart from testing - I just want a fast small browser. Also I find the UI and rendering to look cluttered and a bit second rate.
Great to see Opera is getting websocket though: http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2010/10/11/websockets
I use the mail client for my GMail and RSS feeds. Try it and tell me if you notice anything wrong with it. Actually I've been using the integrated client for so long that my perception about stand-alone mail clients is that they're a thing of the past. I guess it's just a matter of perspective, but for me it's far more convenient to open my browser and not think about checking my mail (it lets me know if new mail has arrived).
I don't use Opera Unite and nobody is forcing me to. It just stays out of my way, and so do the other features. Keep only what you like; just because they're there if you need them doesn't mean they slow you down.