I am very fond of Opera. Yes, I love Così fan tutte (and Mozart’s other 19 operas) but that is not what I am referring to. The Opera I am fascinated with at the moment is the browser alternative to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer called Opera. Like many of you, I have had a long history with browsers. In the summer of 1994, a team of four brilliant programmers from IBM developed a browser called the “Web Explorer”. It was integrated with OS/2 which was the best desktop operating system in the market at that time. It was also integrated with the IBM Global Network which was the best Internet Service Provider at the that time. Why OS/2 is not talked about much anymore and the Web Explorer nor the IBM Global Network exist today is a long story. It is a book someone will surely write at some point. Putting history aside, the best browser available today is Opera and using it is a joy because of it’s many innovations.

There are many reasons why I feel that Opera is the best browser to use but, the bottom line reason is that you get significant productivity gains — you can accomplish more in less time. Unfortunately, I think that many people are content with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Kam Thakker wrote to me saying that "most people assume Microsoft writes good software and it would release innovations if there were any to be possible." That is the problem with monopolies, whether they are legal or not. There is no reason to innovate if you don’t have to. Marc Andreessen, in a recent interview, said that competing with a browser that is integrated with the operating system and also free is a hopeless cause.

This story is not to bash Microsoft but rather to extol the virtues of Opera, but I must admit that using Opera gives me a liberated feeling that the developers worked very hard to make their browser emporwing for the user. At times  I feel that Internet Explorer is designed to empower Microsoft. Aside from the philosophical aspects, Opera is a really great browser. The immediate benefit is that when using Opera you get no pop-ups. When you install Opera you are asked if you want pop-ups. If you say no, then you get none. None. The other feature I like very much is the tabbed interface. Instead of having multiple instances of IE browsers, Opera has just one instance. Inside of the Opera browser there are multiple tabs across the top — or bottom or left or right at your option. Each tab is a web page that you have loaded. If you happen to re-boot XP (which I do more often than I would like) and re-start Opera, it will re-start where you left off. If you had a dozen web pages (tabs) open before you re-booted then all twelve pages will be automatically re-loaded. This feature alone adds a lot of productivity to my day.

There are many other features I think are particularly good. I have outlined a few of them below (thanks to Kam for his input on this).

• Opera works on my Linux machines in addition to Windows
• URLs can be entered without having to type in the details: e.g. type "ebay" and you get to http://www.ebay.com
• You can enter "g <text search>" from the Opera address bar to search for anything using Google
• You can enter "e thinkpad" from the Opera address bar and a search for ThinkPads is launched at eBay
• One-click password manager. A magic wand remembers your personal details.
• Fast-forward and rewind buttons are very useful. They expedite surfing.
• Highlighting text enables a context menu to search, get definitions, go to a website, or get a translation
• Mouse gestures save keystrokes and cursor movement
• Two-button mouse actions let you go forward-back without going up to buttons – more time efficiency.
• Two-button mouse and scroll wheel let you scroll through open tabbed windows
• “X” and “Z” let you go forward/back respectively without taking hands off the keyboard. Many other keyboard shortcuts.
• Customizable toolbar and buttons — takes a simple right-click to get rid of the clutter
• F8 highlights address bar to type in URL – no wasted motion using a mouse
• Auto-fill for personal info (email address, credit card number, mailing address, etc.)
• Really fast rendering and zooming windows. The overall performance of Opera is superior to IE.

Every day I discover new features. Opera is really terrific.