Anyone tried both Opera 6 and Mozilla?

[John S.]

I've been using Opera 6.04 for a while since reading about it in
this newsgroup, and like it a lot.

However, I find too many web sites do not display properly, no
doubt because they are specifically disigned for IE.

For example, today I tried to look up a phone number in England
and Opera would not display British Telecom directory enquiry
page http://www.bt.com/directory-enquiries/

I'm wondering if I would have better luck downloading and using
Mozilla, which seems to be very popular, but am reluctant to
learn another piece of software if it will not provide any clear
advantages.

I would be grateful for comment from anyone who has used both, or
from those who use Mozilla - do you often find that web pages
will not display properly, or at all, using Mozilla?

Thanks for any help

Cheers, John S

 

[donutbandit]

(e-mail address removed) (John S.) wrote in

I've been using Opera 6.04 for a while since reading about it in
this newsgroup, and like it a lot.

However, I find too many web sites do not display properly, no
doubt because they are specifically disigned for IE.

For example, today I tried to look up a phone number in England
and Opera would not display British Telecom directory enquiry
page http://www.bt.com/directory-enquiries/

I'm wondering if I would have better luck downloading and using
Mozilla, which seems to be very popular, but am reluctant to
learn another piece of software if it will not provide any clear
advantages.

I would be grateful for comment from anyone who has used both, or
from those who use Mozilla - do you often find that web pages
will not display properly, or at all, using Mozilla?

Thanks for any help

Cheers, John S

I found Mozilla to have numerous issues with loading web pages properly. Of
course, the Mozilla enthusiasts insist that it's the fault of badly
designed web pages. That may be true, but since the badly designed pages
are here to stay, we need a browser that can handle them.

I found Firebird to be better at rendering pages than Mozilla. You might
try it. It's also far easier to use than Opera. Once you get used to it,
you won't go back.

If you want a full browser/mail/news client, Netscape 7.1 works fine and
renders pages beautifully. There is little difference between
Netscape/Firebird/Mozilla as far as the interface, since they are all based
on the Gecko engine. In other words, once you get used to Gecko, all of
them seem familiar.

Firebird is nice because there are many extensions and themes available.

 

[Allen]

Hello donutbandit,

Friday, January 16, 2004, 6:07:12 PM, you wrote:

d> I found Firebird to be better at rendering pages than Mozilla. You
d> might try it.

Last I knew it used the Gecko engine and was based on the /Mozilla/ trunk.

d> It's also far easier to use than Opera. Once you get used to it, you
d> won't go back.

Agreed. I'm a former Opera user, become quite sick of shelling out money
year after year to use the browser. And now that Firebird has really
stabilized, I use it faithfully.

d> If you want a full browser/mail/news client, Netscape 7.1 works fine
d> and renders pages beautifully.

Or a recent version of the Mozilla Application suite--which is, in effect,
an updated version of Netscape 7.x -- Netscape was based entirely on
Mozilla.

d> There is little difference between Netscape/Firebird/Mozilla as far as
d> the interface, since they are all based on the Gecko engine. In other
d> words, once you get used to Gecko, all of them seem familiar.

Yep. Firebird has some nice features, like popup blocking, smaller
download size, etc. . . so it's a matter of what you want/need.

d> Firebird is nice because there are many extensions and themes
d> available.

Infinitely expandable, infinitely customizable. Open Source, free, active
in development and standards compliant.

 

[Ummmmmm]

(e-mail address removed) (John S.) wrote in @news.paradise.net.nz:

I've been using Opera 6.04 for a while since reading about it in
this newsgroup, and like it a lot.

However, I find too many web sites do not display properly, no
doubt because they are specifically disigned for IE.

For example, today I tried to look up a phone number in England
and Opera would not display British Telecom directory enquiry
page http://www.bt.com/directory-enquiries/

I'm wondering if I would have better luck downloading and using
Mozilla, which seems to be very popular, but am reluctant to
learn another piece of software if it will not provide any clear
advantages.

I would be grateful for comment from anyone who has used both, or
from those who use Mozilla - do you often find that web pages
will not display properly, or at all, using Mozilla?

Thanks for any help

Cheers, John S

Have you tried Opera v7.23 ?

 

[Sumairp]

On Fri, 16 Jan 2004 22:37:38 GMT, (e-mail address removed) (John S.) wrote:

I am a long time Opera user.

I downloaded & tried Mozilla & Firebird last week-end and
now am using Opera 7.23 on Win2kPro & Xandros Linux.

Opera is slipping but still better than the others IMHO
Am yet to find a better Bookmark system than Netscape 3 used.

Cheers,

 

[me]

I'm using Opera 7.22 with Sun Java Runtime Environment version 1.3 and
the page displays just fine. I believe the later Opera versions made
improvements. At least I've had fewer problems with page displays
since I upgraded from version 6.

Do you have cookies disabled? Some sites won't display properly
without them.

I tried Mozilla a long time ago but never got it to work properly.
Opera certainly hasn't been problem-free, but it's the best I've found
so far.

On Fri, 16 Jan 2004 22:37:38 GMT, (e-mail address removed) (John S.) wrote:

:: I've been using Opera 6.04 for a while since reading about it in
:: this newsgroup, and like it a lot.
::
:: However, I find too many web sites do not display properly, no
:: doubt because they are specifically disigned for IE.
::
:: For example, today I tried to look up a phone number in England
:: and Opera would not display British Telecom directory enquiry
:: page http://www.bt.com/directory-enquiries/
::
:: I'm wondering if I would have better luck downloading and using
:: Mozilla, which seems to be very popular, but am reluctant to
:: learn another piece of software if it will not provide any clear
:: advantages.
::
:: I would be grateful for comment from anyone who has used both, or
:: from those who use Mozilla - do you often find that web pages
:: will not display properly, or at all, using Mozilla?
::
:: Thanks for any help
::
:: Cheers, John S
::
::

 

[Richard Steven Hack]

For example, today I tried to look up a phone number in England
and Opera would not display British Telecom directory enquiry
page http://www.bt.com/directory-enquiries/

You're right - V7.11 won't display it. However another poster said
7.23 will. I haven't installed that version yet, although I have it.
Guess I need to get to it.

I'm wondering if I would have better luck downloading and using
Mozilla, which seems to be very popular, but am reluctant to
learn another piece of software if it will not provide any clear
advantages.

Mozilla has no advantages in features over Opera (other than the fact
that there's no ads, of course, which makes Opera off-topic here as it
is adware). It's not faster, not much better at displaying pages -
since the problems are mostly with IE-oriented sites and being
standards-oriented doesn't help there.

I actually don't have hardly any experience with Mozilla, just some
with K-Meleon (another Gecko-based browser). I'm going by what I've
read about it. Mainly the problem with Mozilla is it is still under
heavy development and their buglist is long. Opera is relatively
mature (even though they did a major code upgrade for either 6 or 7, I
forget which.)

 

[Antoine]

I'm wondering if I would have better luck downloading and using
Mozilla, which seems to be very popular, but am reluctant to
learn another piece of software if it will not provide any clear
advantages.

Mozilla is opensource whereas Opera is not.
Mozilla is freeware whereas the free version of Opera is adware.

 

[Wald]

(e-mail address removed) (John S.) wrote:

A browser isn't a piece of software that requires much training, IMHO.

FYI, I never really used Opera. Mozilla does the job perfectly for me,
but then again, maybe my interests are such that they don't lead me to
IE-only webpages very often.
The British Telecom page loads perfectly on my Mozilla 1.6.

I found Firebird to be better at rendering pages than Mozilla. You
might try it. It's also far easier to use than Opera. Once you get
used to it, you won't go back.

Well, since Firebird uses the same rendering engine as Mozilla (Gecko),
this would be rather surprising. Maybe you're comparing an older Mozilla
version with a newer Firebird.

If you want a full browser/mail/news client, Netscape 7.1 works fine
and renders pages beautifully. There is little difference between
Netscape/Firebird/Mozilla as far as the interface, since they are all
based on the Gecko engine. In other words, once you get used to Gecko,
all of them seem familiar.

Gecko is the HTML rendering engine, and has little to do with the actual
GUI interface...
By the way, Netscape 7.1 is largely based on Mozilla 1.4, and certainly
uses the same rendering engine. Another thing is that Netscape is dead,
and Mozilla is being developed more actively than ever before.

Just my 2 cents,
Wald

 

[John Corliss]

I've been using Opera 6.04 for a while since reading about it in
this newsgroup, and like it a lot.
However, I find too many web sites do not display properly, no
doubt because they are specifically disigned for IE.
For example, today I tried to look up a phone number in England
and Opera would not display British Telecom directory enquiry
page http://www.bt.com/directory-enquiries/

I'm wondering if I would have better luck downloading and using
Mozilla, which seems to be very popular, but am reluctant to
learn another piece of software if it will not provide any clear
advantages.

Hmmm. That site worked perfectly for me. Using Mozilla 1.6 final with
proxies (WebWasher and a "no longer freeware" cookie filter program) I
was able to look up the phone number and address of one of this
group's most well known British trolls in about 5 seconds.

I would be grateful for comment from anyone who has used both, or
from those who use Mozilla - do you often find that web pages
will not display properly, or at all, using Mozilla?

I think you'd be real happy with the new Mozilla. Also check out the
extensions page (which loads real slowly) here:

http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/

It has loads of addons that greatly enhance Mozilla.

 

[Vic Dura]

I would be grateful for comment from anyone who has used both, or
from those who use Mozilla - do you often find that web pages
will not display properly, or at all, using Mozilla?

Used Opera 6 for about two years and then switched to Mozilla after I
got tired of some many sites not working with O6. IMO Mozilla is
*much* better. Also, Firebird looks like it has a lot of potential.

 

[TKO]

Mozilla 1.6 is great, all aspects of it.
Great for news groups too.

 

[Bill Day]

I would be grateful for comment from anyone who has used both, or
from those who use Mozilla - do you often find that web pages
will not display properly, or at all, using Mozilla?

I have and use, Opera 6, Opera 7, Mozilla 1.5 (am trying to get 1.6 now,
but site is b-u-s-y)....I find each of them useful for different things,
and 'sometimes' have both Mozilla & Opera open at the same time. This
seldom is a problem.

I keep using Opera because if the internal navigation speed, that is,
going forward & back in multi-page web sites, (which is also easier
because of the keyboard shortcuts under my left hand...'Q','A','Z' & 'X'
do 95% of my navigation). Mozilla 'hesitates' when going back, as if it
is re-loading a page rather than displaying a cached page. Opera is
almost instantaneous. I wish I knew exactly what is happening there.

Mozilla, on the other hand, has an easier to use bookmark system, and
will cope with a few things (one strange chat room for example) that
crashes Opera 6 (have not tried it with Opera 7)..I also like the
plugins available with Mozilla to totally customize the toolbars. (Use
of 'bookmarklets' is also a major reason to have Mozilla installed.)

*IF* Mozilla were to solve that internal hesitation thing and add some
more keyboard navigation, I think I'd switch to it without hesitation.

 

[Glev Zarriontal]

I've been using Opera 6.04 for a while since reading about it in
this newsgroup, and like it a lot.

However, I find too many web sites do not display properly, no
doubt because they are specifically disigned for IE.

For example, today I tried to look up a phone number in England
and Opera would not display British Telecom directory enquiry
page http://www.bt.com/directory-enquiries/

I'm wondering if I would have better luck downloading and using
Mozilla, which seems to be very popular, but am reluctant to
learn another piece of software if it will not provide any clear
advantages.

I would be grateful for comment from anyone who has used both, or
from those who use Mozilla - do you often find that web pages
will not display properly, or at all, using Mozilla?

Thanks for any help

Cheers, John S

Problem #1: Opera 6.06 was released more than 18 months ago.
If you are going to stick with Opera 6 line because of hardware issues then
I suggest you at least go get the very last version of Opera 6. If you can
run Opera 7.23, I really would go get it. Many net sites that I used to
have problems with on Opera had the problems self vaporize upon upgrading
to Opera 7.


Problem #2: Opera 7.23 has been out quite a while.
You should go get the newest Java which should be Java2 1 dot 43_2 I
think.

Problem #3: There will always be sites designed for IE that will not work
properly in other browsers IMO.

Downloading Mozilla 1.6 can not hurt as it is the most current version.
You will still have some net pages that may not display properly from my
current experiances.

Suggestion: If space is not an issue, then I think you should do these
things...

A) Go get Mozilla 1.6
B) Go get Firebird 070
C) Go get Opera 7.23
D) After installing all three browsers on your system, give each a week or
two trial period.
E) After the trial period is over, uninstall any browser that does not meet
your personal approval.

Bottom Line: Make your own mind up.


PS:
I had Opera 6, Opera 7, Mozilla 1.5, Netscape 7, Firebird 060, and IE
6????? on my system for a long time without problems. I finally removed
Opera 6 in favor of Opera 7 and removed Mozilla 1.5 as I preferred Firebird
over it and Netscape had the few features I needed Opera did not provide.
I have Opera 7, Firebird 070, and Netscape 7 on this system currently plus
the Micro$oft monopoly mandated IE.

 

[JoeA]

A) Go get Mozilla 1.6
B) Go get Firebird 080

FireBird plus Thunderbird almost equals Mozilla

 

[JanC]

Am yet to find a better Bookmark system than Netscape 3 used.

How did that work?
Any different than NS4?

 

[J. Yazel]

How did that work?
Any different than NS4?

===========================

I've tried all of them and I'm staying with Netscape 4.06 (probably
the same as Netscape 3.

That doesn't mean that somebody else would like it, though.

Jack

 

[TW]

Hello donutbandit,

Friday, January 16, 2004, 6:07:12 PM, you wrote:

d> I found Firebird to be better at rendering pages than Mozilla. You
d> might try it.

Last I knew it used the Gecko engine and was based on the /Mozilla/ trunk.

d> It's also far easier to use than Opera. Once you get used to it, you
d> won't go back.

Agreed. I'm a former Opera user, become quite sick of shelling out money
year after year to use the browser. And now that Firebird has really
stabilized, I use it faithfully.

d> If you want a full browser/mail/news client, Netscape 7.1 works fine
d> and renders pages beautifully.

Or a recent version of the Mozilla Application suite--which is, in effect,
an updated version of Netscape 7.x -- Netscape was based entirely on
Mozilla.

d> There is little difference between Netscape/Firebird/Mozilla as far as
d> the interface, since they are all based on the Gecko engine. In other
d> words, once you get used to Gecko, all of them seem familiar.

Yep. Firebird has some nice features, like popup blocking, smaller
download size, etc. . . so it's a matter of what you want/need.

d> Firebird is nice because there are many extensions and themes
d> available.

Infinitely expandable, infinitely customizable. Open Source, free, active
in development and standards compliant.

Same here. I used to be a faithful Opera user for a few years. It
had a few quirks up through 7.0. I migrated to Mozilla about a year
ago, and it was very good, but very slow to start, and consumed a lot
of resources. I switched to Firebird on the 0.6 release, and now 0.7
is very fast and stable. The bookmarks.html file is transportable
between the two programs, although in different subdirectories
(FireBird in in c:\Documents and Settings\"me-as-user"\Phoenix)

FireBird.exe is currently consuming 16.8 MB on my XP box, about 4 MB
more than explorer.exe. I don't remember what my last version of
Mozilla 1.5 consumed, and I haven't deduced what other overhead
processes are needed in support. Also I haven't checked my Linux
laptop for resources used, but it's fast there, too.

Ted
e-mail modified, take the ** out to reply!

Regards, TW

kilocycles***@***yahoo.com

 

[donutbandit]

By the way, Netscape 7.1 is largely based on Mozilla 1.4, and certainly
uses the same rendering engine. Another thing is that Netscape is dead,
and Mozilla is being developed more actively than ever before.

True - but since Netscape was a "commercial" browser, it was given the same
ability to ignore HTML faults that IE was. Some might say that's wrong, but
in real life, you want a dependable browser that works where ever you go.

I've used Netscape to successfully read pages that both Mozilla and
Firebird couldn't do.

 

[donutbandit]

Well, since Firebird uses the same rendering engine as Mozilla (Gecko),
this would be rather surprising. Maybe you're comparing an older Mozilla
version with a newer Firebird.

Actually, development of Firebird has moved some distance away from
Mozilla. The emphasis is on HTML and rendering web pages. Mozilla has all
that to worry about, as well as mail and news.

I installed Mozilla 1.5 final, and removed it the same day. It was buggy in
the extreme. Firebird works far better as a browser.

I read recently that Mozilla 1.6 final has been released, but after less
than happy experiences with both 1.4 & 1.5, I'll pass. I don't use my
browser to read mail and news anyway: there are far better programs to do
that.