First Look at the Opera 9 Beta

If they improve the theme and get anti phishing support, improve bookmark access.
I'll make it my primary browser

Honestly, I haven't tried v9 yet but Opera has a long way to go before they will get my vote. For example, they need to fix the issues with menues (take this page's "See All" tab for example.) Opera can't deal with how some Java code is presented where Firefox can. Also it has issues with how info in drop down boxes is presented. an example would be purchasing something where you get options to choose from in a drop down, Opera won't always show those. Opera is still buggy and needs a lot of work.

In my opinion, Opera is the best browser available right now and I've tried just about all of them. I'm using it right now. I switched to FF a few times thinking I might like it better, but I always come back o Opera.

The site preference context menu is a very nice feature. For serious surfers such as me, I think opera is the easiest to use once you've become familiar with it. There is a learning curve, but once you overcome that, you won't go back.

Opera rocks!
I've tried them all, and Opera is the best by far.

Content blocking is a welcome change (even if a bit late). The BitTorrent support is a bit basic for my taste. Widgets also seem out of place. However, the new "Site Specific Preferences" is the real killer feature of Opera 9. Very robust and pleasantly surprising. Opera 9 Beta seems to be very stable as well. Opera continues to be my primary browser.

I hate Opera, all those fat people singing in some foreign language. Gimme a beer, some Ho-Ho's and Shania Twain.....YeeHaw!

I've abandoned IE log ago. Both Firefox and Opera offer me a more secure browser. Opera and Firefox have improved the internet experience and both have their proponents. I love Firefox for it's clean look and intuitive fitures. The extensions are a great feature. I support the open source efforts.
Opera, on the other hand, offers features that a "power surfer" appreciates. Its fast and can be customized. Opera takes a little more commitment to unlock it's features but once you have ...... it's a "power surfers" dream.

to respond to milki, you can go to Opera.com and find your own theme there. you don't have to use the one they give you.

I have tried them all and like Opera the best. Resource use is low, the features are great and I like the widgets, I am running the Pandora one as I browse. It is too bad that Opera and Firefox can not run certain sites with Active X. Some of the most important bank and investment sites run only with IE.

I love Opera for several reasons - number one is speed. this beast simply makes me browse faster than anything else out there. Now it is free, I wonder why it is not the primary browser for anybody.

If you haven't done it yet please TRY IT NOW! You won't be dissapointed, believe me. Even if you don't use the mouse gestures, advanced tabbed browsing, or other niceties such as opening a group of sites at once when starting, just do it for the speed it has whenever you hit Back (instantaneous).

I have version 9 since friday and seems to be very reliable.

Opera is for serious surfers who knows about technology and can fixed their own computer when there is a prpblem. FF is more for the main-stream end-users who just want something to replace IE and can't tell the different between spyware and virus. I have been using Opera since it first launches years ago, and had also try all sort of browers, nothing can compare to Opera. Most of the features you see from FF were already in Opera. Although I admit that sometimes Opera does not load pages correctly on certain site, but it is how the site was written that is the problem and not Opera.

Opera isn't that buggy and doesn't need a lot of work. In fact, Opera 9 is more standards compliant than FF or IE (passes ACID2).

Also, Opera has added much better JavaScript support in 9. Any problems Opera has with Java code should probably be taken up with Sun.

"Some of the most important bank and investment sites run only with IE."

And depending on how well they're written, you probably shouldn't be using them for anything involving money.

I'm a firefox guy and have been for a long time, have been using Opera now about a year alongside FF - if I cannot get something to work in firefox, I next try Opera, and only after THAT doesn't work do I open IE But I rarely get that far; between the two browsers I can do most anything I want to do.

I love them both.

But I am beholden to FireFox because of the whole open source thing, I love it, I love that it is going to take M$ down a peg or two, at the very least make them pay attention to the internet again. I can't stand that they did all they needed to kill Netscape and then have just fallen asleep.

Opera is fast, it is pretty, it is feature rich. Usually I've got them both open, though I'd not do that without a lot of ram.

Oh, yeah - it's also got a really nice IRC feature built-in, very easy to use, very pretty interface

I think Opera is quite good but its encoding capability need to be improved as it cannot perfectly display Unicode websites. It should, of course, let us decide the bar position or to compact the screen like Firefox. Also, I realized that Opera's pop-up blocker and AdBlock are still in weakness. Little bit sorry for the new beta and hope that the better final will be coming shortly.

For me, what does it in Opera is that little click in the tiny vertical bar along the left hand side frame. There it is all: mail, contacts, bookmarks, history, transfers, windows, help, search engines, whatever, just add it there... And of course the browser's speed. After tasting Opera's speed, IE will drive you nuts. And all those skins available. You can customize just about everything in Opera. Opera has always been a step ahead and never got the credit it deserves. Like others, I also use and support FF for the open source thing, but Opera is number one, no doubt about that here.

I have been using Opera from its version 6 some years ago. It seems to me, however, that with coming out as free browser the programming team somehow got worse. Just note those countless weekly builds of v.9 with old and long corrected errors appearing again and again. More than a month after the article was released and still no release date in sight ...

This version of opera is shaping up wonderfully well. As you said, I hope there is a one click option to have opera's engine running in the background to display widgets after the main browser is closed.
Opera's final release should not come very soon. Generally they have RC (Release Candidate) before final release. According to opera's ceo it may take about 3 months more.

Opera has been my main browser for a number of years now. I even paid money for it back before it was free! The features built into Opera are just too numerous to list. I have been using it for so long and it is soooo customizable that it is quite painful to use any other browser, even FF.

I have found Opera 9 Beta to be both fast and reliable.FF and IE are okay I guess. But I really love this new opera web browser, they can't touch it on operating speed. Extra customizable features are icing on the cake. I think we have a winner.

opera.is.amazing

i am a firefox fan about its safety but an opera fan about its high speed.Thats it.No need to talk more

For a resonably light web user like opera is the best
it is stable and its secure enough
And as long as you are not too much into addons Opera will serve all your needs

There seems to be a lot of browser posers in the web now i.e people who think they know every thing about browser
And these posers follow FF blindly just because its opensource and is supposedly killing the MAN

Wake up people FF has become the MAN

They've finally made the keyboard shortcut for opening a new tab simple by just having it be ctrl-t (like FireFox).

The content blocking features are good, but blocking from the context menu and then removing the images was a little strange at first, but may be better than adblock.

All in all I may switch to Opera in the future if they can offer more in terms of add-ons.

Oh, and to the poster above me, FireFox can't be "the man" when the code is open source. It isn't a matter of being "the man" it's a matter of transparency. FireFox is transparent.

And while Opera is not really transparent, they havn't done anything devious to piss anyone off.

I have tried all the top browsers. All versions of IE, Netscape, Lynx, Safari, Firefox and Opera.. While some are better than others in particular things- I am sold out for Opera.

I think Scandinavians know what they are doing. Opera is extremely fast ( FASTER than FF ). I hate waiting for FF to launch 3-4 sec. Opera starts almost instantaneously. IE falls short because of insecurities and the look of it.. just not pleasing. Even the new version that they are coming with now – stinks. Sorry, but I am a graphic artist and I am picky.

FF is good, but Opera is stylish, fast, secure and has tons of gadgets that either FF, Netscape or IE doesn't have. The mouse gestures are extremely useful. Right click menus are great. F11 is brilliant. With Opera you can preview how your site would look like on mobile browsers..

the list can go on and on.
The best option is to install IE, FF and Opera. Use Opera primarily for day-to-day browsing, FF once in a while, and IE for visiting Microsoft Vista page.. that’s about it.

firefox is the best browser for security and i enjoy adding extensions that i prefer.

If I took the standard version of Firefox and Opera I would probably use Opera. Its lightening speed can't be beat, but the extensions that I can install in Firefox make it a far more secure and functional browser for me.

If I took the standard version of Firefox and Opera I would probably use Opera. Its lightening speed can't be beat, but the extensions that I can install in Firefox make it a far more secure and functional browser for me.

Opera 9 beta is great - also love the speed

use Ie 7 beta and fire fox also but opera is # 1 for now

Opera's the best by far!!

"They've finally made the keyboard shortcut for opening a new tab simple by just having it be ctrl-t (like FireFox)."

Ya, too bad FF got it wrong when they did that. Luckily you can change Opera back using the keyboard preferences.

I haven't tried opera 9 yet. I'm currently using v8.52.
I used opera for the last 3-4 years since v5.12. So you can imagine that i'm a huge fan. I't greatest advantage is that it's faster than most browser. That's awesome. But it doesn't load sites like cnn, espn well enough. That I think opera developers should take a look.

haven't tried opera 9 yet. I'm currently using v8.52.
I used opera for the last 3-4 years since v5.12. So you can imagine that i'm a huge fan. I't greatest advantage is that it's faster than most browser. That's awesome. But it doesn't load sites like cnn, espn well enough. That I think opera developers should take a look.

I have used Opera on MANY platforms (even 3.52 for BeOS!) and love it. Forget speed. Forget security. Forget the apps. IT'S NOT IE. With the combo of Opera 9, Zone Alarm for the firewall, and Avast for the anti-virus, I have no issues witrh spyware, virii, etc. Opera is just a better browser.

how do you preview your site for mobile?