Crazy Apple News Site

Every Friday we publish a list of inFrequently Asked Questions and answers to help you, the Crazy Apple user, get more out of your Crazy Apple products.

This week: Opera, the Alternate Browser to the alternate browsers you’re used to using.

Q: Why? Why another browser?

A: Opera is not just “another browser”, my friend. Opera is the other browser.

Q: You mean, like, the one my blog has been seeing when I’m not home? The one it got that new CSS for?

A: No. No, that’s just stupid. Why would you say stupid things like that?  I mean, like, the browser that was setting trends when Firefox was still part of the dying Netscape corporation.

Q: So, it’s old. Like iCab.

A: It’s experienced, and unlike iCab, it doesn’t look like crap.

Q: Okay, so it’s like OmniWeb.

A: Well, like OmniWeb, you used to have to pay for it, but now it’s free. But unlike OmniWeb, it’s still under active development.

Q: So, it’s like Chrome?

A: Well, it’s pretty fast with the ol’ JavaScript, like Chrome. Unlike Chrome, however, it runs on all major operating systems, including Leopard.

Q: Which would make it…I’m running out of alternate browsers here.

A: (whispers) Shiira.

Q: Right, thanks. So, it’s like Shiira.

A: Well, Shiira and Opera are both made in countries outside of North America, but Shiira is Japanese and Opera comes from the great untamed wildernesses of Norway.  

Q: Okay, I’m really out of other alternates. So. What makes Opera so special?

A: Well! It was the first major browser to have tabs…

Q: Which even IE has now…

A: It has an integrated mail client…

Q: a la Netscape Communicator or SeaMonkey…

A: It has an integrated¹ password manager…

Q: Just like Firefox²…

A: And it’s faster than Safari. And it created the “Speed dial” feature that Safari 4 stole. And has a good-looking feed preview. And mouse gestures that no other browser can rival. And a kiosk mode that is actually secure. There. Name browsers that do those things, smartypants.

Q: Firefox with extensions.

A: *Sigh*. Yeah. Okay, I got it: Opera is the only major browser written by a company who claimed he would swim from Norway to New York.

Q: Really?

A: Yeah. He only made it to the edge of the harbor, though. His support raft got a hole.  ((You think I’m making this all up. I’m not. They did. Google it. They took it all of their site, but it was pretty funny.))

Q: Huh.  It’s free, right?

A: Yeah.

Q: Maybe I’ll try it out. Hey, thanks!

1. And secured, unlike Chrome [↩]
2. if you set the master password [↩]