Reply to Re: Opera9 Browser
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When I posted *clicky*, I downloaded it. Now I've used it for a while, and I can tell you what I think of it.
First, there aren't many differences between the 8.5x series and Opera 9, so I'll just say what I think about the "New in Opera 9" features mentioned here.
BitTorrent: I haven't used it yet, but with the BitTorrent.com search widget, this may change.
Search engines: This was already possibly by .ini editing, but now there's a way to do it in the GUI I'm even happier. So far I've added wikipedia search and dictionary.com search.
Site Preferences: Just individual cookie settings and popup-blocker settings. Also it's possible to have a custom .css file and custom JavaScript per site.
Improved rich text editing: Eh? Not needed it yet. Most text I type is plaintext anyway...
Content blocker: Yay! Right-click > Block Content. Then you can click all elements that you want to have blocked. It was possible in earlier versions by .ini editing, but UI-implementations are good.
Thumbnail preview: In the "tab scroll" menu (Ctrl-Tab, or RightClick+Scroll), this is a pain. It's nice as added information when hovering over a tab, though.
Widgets: These are little programs that run in the browser. There aren't many useful ones, but I've managed to find a few. These are the ones I use:
BitTorrent.com search.
Currency Convertor.
For those two, there's probably a search engine defined, but I didn't feel like looking it up.
Functions 2D.
The Colours of the Rainbow.
There's one problem with 9, compared to the 8.5x series. And that is the "temporary download directory". When you download files, they are stored in a specified directory somewhere on the system. Then, depending on if you chose "open" or "save", the file is opened with the default program; or if Opera can open it, which is usually the case with plaintext files, Opera will do so. That was the old way, and I was happy. Now, when you choose "open" it is downloaded to a different directory than when you choose "save". All fine, but this directory gets cleared when you clear the cache.
What if I download a music file, which I want to listen to immediately, and then decide if I want to keep it or not? That's not a too uncommon scenario, is it? Before, there was one way. The good way:
Click download link. Choose "open". Wait a bit for the file to download. Listen to it. Like it > keep in the downloads dir. Not like it > delete from the downloads dir.
Now there are two ways, neither of which are better than before:
1) Click download link. Choose "open". Wait a bit. Listen. Like it > move to other directory (might get deleted otherwise). Not like it > delete from temp downloads dir (or wait for cache cleanup...)
2) Click download link. Choose "save". Wait a bit. Open file from transfers window. Listen. Like it > keep in the downloads dir. Not like it > delete from downloads dir.
What's the big deal? With the first way, if I happen to like the song, moving of the file is one action too much. Yes, I'm lazy like that. The second way, simply having to open the transfer tab, and double-clicking the file there is too much. I could keep the transfer tab open, but it clutters up the screen if I have 20 other tabs.
I understand there are people who prefer it the way it's now, but there are also more people like me, who would like to see it changed back. What to do, what to do? Do the Opera thing, make it user-configurable. "Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Downloads > Temporary downloads" would be the perfect place for it, along with a line to set the temporary downloads dir. That's only possible through .ini editing, or through opera:config. I don't dare to set the temp dir to the normal transfer dir, for fear of flushing all downloaded files with the cache.
First, there aren't many differences between the 8.5x series and Opera 9, so I'll just say what I think about the "New in Opera 9" features mentioned here.
BitTorrent: I haven't used it yet, but with the BitTorrent.com search widget, this may change.
Search engines: This was already possibly by .ini editing, but now there's a way to do it in the GUI I'm even happier. So far I've added wikipedia search and dictionary.com search.
Site Preferences: Just individual cookie settings and popup-blocker settings. Also it's possible to have a custom .css file and custom JavaScript per site.
Improved rich text editing: Eh? Not needed it yet. Most text I type is plaintext anyway...
Content blocker: Yay! Right-click > Block Content. Then you can click all elements that you want to have blocked. It was possible in earlier versions by .ini editing, but UI-implementations are good.
Thumbnail preview: In the "tab scroll" menu (Ctrl-Tab, or RightClick+Scroll), this is a pain. It's nice as added information when hovering over a tab, though.
Widgets: These are little programs that run in the browser. There aren't many useful ones, but I've managed to find a few. These are the ones I use:
BitTorrent.com search.
Currency Convertor.
For those two, there's probably a search engine defined, but I didn't feel like looking it up.
Functions 2D.
The Colours of the Rainbow.
There's one problem with 9, compared to the 8.5x series. And that is the "temporary download directory". When you download files, they are stored in a specified directory somewhere on the system. Then, depending on if you chose "open" or "save", the file is opened with the default program; or if Opera can open it, which is usually the case with plaintext files, Opera will do so. That was the old way, and I was happy. Now, when you choose "open" it is downloaded to a different directory than when you choose "save". All fine, but this directory gets cleared when you clear the cache.
What if I download a music file, which I want to listen to immediately, and then decide if I want to keep it or not? That's not a too uncommon scenario, is it? Before, there was one way. The good way:
Click download link. Choose "open". Wait a bit for the file to download. Listen to it. Like it > keep in the downloads dir. Not like it > delete from the downloads dir.
Now there are two ways, neither of which are better than before:
1) Click download link. Choose "open". Wait a bit. Listen. Like it > move to other directory (might get deleted otherwise). Not like it > delete from temp downloads dir (or wait for cache cleanup...)
2) Click download link. Choose "save". Wait a bit. Open file from transfers window. Listen. Like it > keep in the downloads dir. Not like it > delete from downloads dir.
What's the big deal? With the first way, if I happen to like the song, moving of the file is one action too much. Yes, I'm lazy like that. The second way, simply having to open the transfer tab, and double-clicking the file there is too much. I could keep the transfer tab open, but it clutters up the screen if I have 20 other tabs.
I understand there are people who prefer it the way it's now, but there are also more people like me, who would like to see it changed back. What to do, what to do? Do the Opera thing, make it user-configurable. "Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Downloads > Temporary downloads" would be the perfect place for it, along with a line to set the temporary downloads dir. That's only possible through .ini editing, or through opera:config. I don't dare to set the temp dir to the normal transfer dir, for fear of flushing all downloaded files with the cache.
