NewsForge: Opera for Linux: We wish them luck but…

“I finally got around to a full day of playing with the
(proprietary) Opera Browser 5.0 Linux beta. It’s the fastest
browser I’ve ever used in any operating system, but I’m not ready
to spend $39 or look at annoying ads in return for using it. And
with (free, Open Source) Konqueror steadily improving, Opera may
never be able to make a living selling its browser to Linux users
unless the company has some very big and sexy rabbits waiting to be
pulled out of its development hat.”

“First, let me tell you about the ads. The “free” version of
Opera throws an ad in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
For someone like me whose bad eyes and 14.1″ laptop screen dictate
800X600 screen resolution, this is a major annoyance because it
eats up a significant amount of my tiny working space. Then I go to
a site that is already as full of ads as I can tolerate (like
NewsForge itself, which admittedly rides the edge of readability in
this respect) and I simply can’t handle it all.”

“In return for the ad annoyance I get a browser that won’t
handle plugins; now and then I have no choice but to wade through
government documents published in Acrobat format, and I’ve got to
admit that I like to grab a little sound and fury in Real or Flash
now and then. Opera’s current Linux beta also freezes me out of any
site that uses Java. I may not love Java-laden sites, but until I
have King of the World power over all Web design it is something I
must live with.”

“Opera’s Linux beta also doesn’t have email built-in, a factor
that might not bother Pine users, but I’m a lazy cuss who has been
using Netscape Messenger for years, and I have gotten spoiled by
the ease of simply using one (admittedly bloated) piece of software
for virtually all of my online browsing and communication
needs.”

Complete
Story