Opera Embraces Extensions For v.11

dkd903 writes "Opera is one of the most solid browsers around. It is very fast, extremely customizable, and has a lot of functionality that others do not have. Opera is also a very strong supporter of Web standards; it was one of the first browsers to pass the ACID 3 test. However, Opera has always been confined to a relatively small user-base because of one critical thing — lack of extensions. Well, that is about to change — at least the extensions part. Today, it has been announced that Opera 11 will support extensions."

Comments

That's What's Holding It Down!

[Pedersen]

Because, out of everything, the only thing has ever held Opera back is the lack of extensions. Yep. Definitely. Nothing about having a weird interface, or having preferences in unusual locations. Just the lack of extensions.

Sure.

Re:That's What's Holding It Down!

[AmberBlackCat]

I don't think Opera's problem is the lack of extensions. I think it's problem is websites that don't support it and, in some cases, specifically check for Opera so they can say the site is not compatible even if Opera could render the pages properly.

Firefox lovers of bloat stay away

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd prefer the best browser to maintain its current level of anonymity and leave the IE and Firefox user as cherries to be plucked.

Quick!

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone write a "FirefoxTab" extension. Who else would like their Opera to leak memory?

Re:Grammar 101

[Hylandr]

Now if you left it alone everyone would have thought you were making a point. :)

- Dan.

Extensions are critical?

[Carik]

I've never understood that. "Why not use this browser that does everything you say you want?" "Because it doesn't have EXTENSIONS!"

I don't get it. I suppose this is nice if it gets people to use Opera, but honestly... if that's your excuse, there's probably a better reason you're using something else.

Re:Extensions are critical?

[characterZer0]

People do not not use Opera because it does not have extensions. People do not use Opera because it does not have a particular set of features provided by extensions in another browser.

Re:Extensions are critical?

[hairyfeet]

Well I can't speak for them, but for me personally it is because since Opera is proprietary most of the "extensions" are just bad hacks to get around its lack of features. For example it has NOTHING similar to Adblock Plus and Noscript. Instead you have to run a third party tool like privoxy, and do "all or nothing" JavaScript whitelisting to get a "kinda sorta, but not really" ABP and NS functionality. And that is just for two on the 10 extensions I use, I don't even want to see the number of third party programs and hacks I'd have to use to get the others.

Honestly the guy that came up with the Firefox extensions framework deserves a raise and a new car, as it is the best lock in system they could have ever built. With it even my just turned 68 year old clueless dad has the web HIS way thanks to installing extensions all by himself. The FF extension framework makes it trivial to have YOUR web YOUR way and MY web MINE. So I'm sorry Opera guys, I've tried your browser and sure it pops up quick, but so what? FF loads pages as fast as my cable connection can go, and with NS I CONTROL what those pages are allowed to do, which seeing the amount of drive by malware is important to me. So I think I'll just stick with the FF framewok, thanks anyway and good luck Opera.

Re:Extensions are critical?

[Ksevio]

For example it has NOTHING similar to Adblock Plus and Noscript.

Except of course for the content blocker (right click on the page and select "Block Content" or just download a precreated list from the web). Or the ability to set javascript/plugins on/off for individual sites. I'm sure NoScript does some extra nifty stuff, but it's clear you didn't try Opera for very long. Also, you seem to miss the point on page loading speed. It's not only loading pages fresh for the first time, but also jumping around in history and cached pages load much faster.

Re:Extensions are critical?

[m50d]

But every time it comes up, it turns out opera actually has that feature built in.

Re:Extensions are critical?

[sznupi]

And yet, in large part of posts with "because of those extensions I can't live without", it turns out it was ignorance of features which Opera has built-in for a long time. How many times are we supposed to see "because Opera doesn't have adblock!" bs?...

Slashdot Editors

[Anonymous Coward]

Once again we see that we have very editors here at /.

Re:'Problem' is not Extensions

[The MAZZTer]

Given many Firefox extensions have traditionally worked with the internals of Firefox (though not recommended of course), this not only explains why many break with each new Firefox release, but why Opera can't do what you suggest. Opera would have to BECOME Firefox to get Firefox extensions.

On the other hand, Chrome has a fixed API for extensions, which you could theoretically implement in other apps easily enough (well, you need a JS engine first of course).

Blame it on extenstions

[milkasing]

If only,
... opera had embraced a free model earlier
... had the backing of a massive corporation to have it pre-installed
... or had inherited a large core of users and developers
... or had the appeal of being open source

I have been an opera user / fan for a while, and wish more people use it. But blaming the low adoption on extensions is insane.
Opera 10 has been very disappointing in terms of quality control and I wish the team focused more on making it crash -proof and fixed all the non-working features (such as voice) instead of adding more and more functionality.

Re:Supporter of Web Standards?

[satoshi1]

I'm pretty sure Opera had drop shadows far before Firefox. I don't count rounded corners since Firefox did it using -moz... CSS options. That's not really a standard, now, is it?