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437 lines
13 KiB
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<title>Opera - a lightweight browser for Linux LG #65</title>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<center>
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<H1><font color="maroon">Opera - a lightweight browser for Linux</font></H1>
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<H4>By <a href="mailto:matthiasarndt@gmx.net">Matthias Arndt</a></H4>
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</center>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<H2>Table Of Contents</H2>
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<UL>
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<LI><A HREF="#intro">Introduction</A></LI>
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<LI><A HREF="#layout">Screenlayout & Look'n'Feel</A></LI>
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<LI><A HREF="#bookmarks">Bookmark handling</A></LI>
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<LI><A HREF="#browsing">Quality of browsing - what can Opera render?</A></LI>
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<LI><A HREF="#compare">Opera in comparison to Netscape</A></LI>
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<LI><A HREF="#custom">Customization</A></LI>
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<LI><A HREF="#technical">Technical Notes & Downloading</A></LI>
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<LI><A HREF="#install">Installation</A></LI>
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<LI><A HREF="#conclusion">Conclusion</A></LI>
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</UL>
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<A NAME="intro">
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<H2>Introduction</H2>
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<P>
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Currently, the Linux community lacks a stable and fast web browser.
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</P>
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<P>
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Of course, there's Netscape but it's neither fast nor 100% stable. Netscape will crash sometimes,
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especially when you're downloading large files over a slow internet link.
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(I will refer to Mozilla as Netscape here because it still is a "Netscape"-like browser.)
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</P>
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<P>
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There are several alternatives out there but they all lack features that are required
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by most (multimedia) webpages like Java, Javascript, Frame support, tables, CSS and even Flash.
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My personal opinion is that most of this is just trash, not really needed for a decent
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website except tables.
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</P>
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<P>
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Ported from the Windows world, <A HREF="http://www.opera.com/" TARGET="_blank">Opera</A>
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seems to fill the gap. It's still not a full replacement for Netscape on the Linux
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platform, but it's very close to reaching this goal.
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</P>
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<P>
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This article focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of Opera, its
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concepts, and finally a comparison to Netscape.
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</P>
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<A NAME="layout">
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<H2>Screenlayout & Look'n'Feel</H2>
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<P>
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A picture is always a good starting point. Click on the link below to see
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a screenshot of Opera.
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</P>
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<P>
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<A HREF="misc/arndt/mainframe.jpg">Opera - as seen when started, browsing Slashdot</A> [237 KB]
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</P>
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<P>
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If you're used to the Windows version of Opera, you'll recognize that the screen layout is
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the same as in the Windows version.
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</P>
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<P>
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The first thing that you'll recognize is a somewhat large banner containing advertisements.
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Opera is a commercial product so the try-before-you-buy version has a banner there.
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This banner can be controlled to show specific advertisements. But I do not recommend that
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because you'll lose some of your limited anonymity on the net.
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</P>
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<P>
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The navigation buttons are familiar and most of them work the same way as in Netscape.
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However you'll notice the lack of a <EM>STOP</EM> button to cancel a transfer.
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</P>
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<P>
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Opera uses some sort of multiple document interface. Contrary to Netscape, all document windows
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will be opened in the mainframe as subframes.
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You can choose between either a full view of a single document or you can see several subframes
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be open at the same time.
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</P>
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<P>
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Just take a look at the two examples below....
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</P>
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<P>
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<A HREF="misc/arndt/2frames.jpg">
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Opera, two documents open at the same time, one is shown fullscreen</A> [210 KB]
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</P>
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<P>
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<A HREF="misc/arndt/2frames-mdi.jpg">
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Opera, two documents open at the same time, both shown in seperate subframes</A> [196 KB]
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</P>
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<P>
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You'll notice that you have seperate buttons for each open document. This allows you to
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operate Opera even if theres no windowmanager running. Additional: frame switching is much
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faster compared to Netscape.
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</P>
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<P>
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A very nice feature, borrowed from the MS IE, is the ability to switch to a real fullscreen mode.
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Press <B>F11</B> and the current browser frame will be shown fullscreen, really filling the
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full screen, not only the subframe of the Opera window.
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</P>
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<P>
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Disadvantages in this mode are that you can neither switch to other subframes nor use the
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forward and backward buttons.
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</P>
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<P>
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You can customize the look'n'feel of Opera to the extend. Much more than Netscape.
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Display of documents is controlled by CSS. You may either use one from a web site on the net
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or supply your own.
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You can select a whole file to do this or you can customize color, font and size of the various
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objects as headers, paragraphs, etc.
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</P>
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<P>
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Take a look at the customization dialog below:
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</P>
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<P>
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<A HREF="misc/arndt/preferences-css.jpg">
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customization dialog for applying personal CSS</A> [49 KB]
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<P>
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You cannot customize that all in Netscape. Pretty cool feature.
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</P>
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<A NAME="bookmarks">
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<H2>Bookmark Handling</H2>
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<P>
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Bookmark handling is very good in Opera. You can import your Netscape bookmarks and
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your KDE shotcuts (if you have some).
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A feature, imported from the Windows version, is the possibility to import MS IE
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bookmarks as well. But I guess, no real Linux user has a need for that, IMHO.
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One drawback is that the import is readonly. That's somewhat limiting but acceptable.
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</P>
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<P>
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You can switch between a view with bookmarks or without. The default layout is close to the MS IE ones.
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</P>
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<P>
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<A HREF="misc/arndt/bookmarks.jpg">
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Opera, with imported Netscape bookmarks open</A> [246 KB]
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</P>
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<P>
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Note that import of foreign bookmarks is done automatically.
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</P>
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<A NAME="browsing">
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<H2>Quality of browsing - what can Opera render?</H2>
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<P>
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Well, Opera renders almost any decent HTML code. Tables, Frames, CSS, all are no problem.
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In that way it has the full quality of Netscape, not found in many alternative browsers
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on the Linux platform.
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</P>
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<P>
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In particular, the CSS support is even better than in Netscape.
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Just compare a site relying completely on CSS and optimized for MS IE. View this page
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with the MS IE, with Netscape and finally with Opera.<BR>
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As far as I have noticed so far, Opera's output is closer to the MS IE than Netscape. But
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that may be subjective.
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</P>
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<P>
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Opera has three or four features that it does not do properly:
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<UL>
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<LI>Java Support - not implemented yet</LI>
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<LI>Javascript - well works for most things but not for all</LI>
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<LI>Flash - no support for this</LI>
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<LI>no Netscape plugins</LI>
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</UL>
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But IMHO no one really needs Javascript, this one is really annoying. Flash is for multimedia
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freaks and Java, well if you need this, you can still use Netscape.
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</P>
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<P>
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Opera is able to display PNG pictures, a feature not supported by most alternative browsers.
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</P>
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<A NAME="compare">
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<H2>Opera in comparison to Netscape</H2>
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<P>
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Take a look at the following table, then select for yourself.
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</P>
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<P>
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<SMALL>I haven't used the Konqueror from KDE2 yet - so I cannot give you an comparative overview of that one with Opera.</SMALL>
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</P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
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<TR BGCOLOR="#FFFFEE">
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<TD>
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</TD>
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<TD>
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Opera
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</TD>
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<TD>
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Netscape
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</TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD WIDTH="28%">
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Cost
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</TD>
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<TD>
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free - but advertisement is shown
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</TD>
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<TD>
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free - for non-commercial use
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</TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD>
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Size
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</TD>
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<TD>
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average (statically linked)<BR>
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small (dynamic linked)
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</TD>
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<TD>
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big (statically linked only)
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</TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD>
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Speed
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</TD>
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<TD>
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startup is fast<BR>
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document loading and rendering is fast
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</TD>
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<TD>
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startup is very slow, even with much RAM<BR>
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document loading and rendering is average
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD>
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Rendering quality of text (compared to the Windows versions)
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</TD>
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<TD>
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average (at least with my font settings)
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</TD>
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<TD>
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average to bad (depends on the font sizes in CSS and fonts used)
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</TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD>
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Table support
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</TD>
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<TD>
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yes
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</TD>
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<TD>
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yes
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</TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD>
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Frames support
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</TD>
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<TD>
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yes
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</TD>
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<TD>
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yes
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</TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD>
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JavaScript support
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</TD>
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<TD>
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yes but incomplete
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</TD>
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<TD>
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yes
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</TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD>
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Java support
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</TD>
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<TD>
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no - but seems to be planned for the future
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</TD>
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<TD>
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yes
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</TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD>
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CSS support
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</TD>
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<TD>
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yes
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</TD>
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<TD>
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yes but incomplete
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</TD>
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</TR>
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<TR>
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<TD>
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Stability
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</TD>
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<TD>
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rather good<BR>
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sometimes crashes without a reason (at least on my system)
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</TD>
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<TD>
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average to good
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</TD>
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</TR>
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</TABLE>
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<A NAME="custom">
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<H2>Customization</H2>
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<P>
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Opera is very customizable. You can select your own CSS style sheets to use, define
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shortcuts to search engines.
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</P>
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<P>
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You can choose the Identity string as well. Using this feature you can claim that
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your're using the MS IE or Netscape, instead of Opera.
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</P>
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<P>
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This might be useful on some sites that require the use of one of the big browsers out there.
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</P>
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<P>
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Last but not least, the screenlayout, the positons of navigation and status bars, can be customized.
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You can even select to show an advanced navigation bar instead of the small default one.
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</P>
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<A NAME="technical">
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<H2>Technical Notes & Downloading</H2>
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<P>
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Opera uses the QT2.2 library. However, it runs nicely without KDE.
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</P>
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<P>
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Opera is available at <A HREF="http://www.opera.com/" TARGET="_blank">www.opera.com</A>.
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</P>
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<P>
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You can choose between tar.gz, deb and rpm packages. These come either statically linked or
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dynamically linked.
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</P>
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<P>
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A version for PowerPC Linux is available as well.
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</P>
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<P>
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I suggest using the statically linked version. Although the packages are bigger, it is more
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likely that Opera runs.
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</P>
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<A NAME="install">
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<H2>Installation</H2>
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<P>
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Installation of Opera is easy.
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</P>
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<P>
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The tar.gz archives come along with an install skript.
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</P>
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<P>
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Just unpack the Opera archive to a temporary place and run <EM>install.sh</EM> in the directory,
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</P>
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<P>
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I have no experience with the deb or rpm packages of Opera.
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Due to the nature of these formats, I suppose that both just install Opera and you can use it
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out of the box afterwards.
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</P>
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<A NAME="conclusion">
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<H2>Conclusion</H2>
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<P>
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Opera is a fast and lightweight web browser. It has very good features and is able to render
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almost 90% of the webpages out there.
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</P>
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<P>
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There are still some features missing or incomplete. At least, today, Opera is still not
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ready to be used standalone if you want Javascript, Java and multimedia stuff like Flash.
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But if you can live without these, you'll find that
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Opera <EM>can be</EM> a 100% replacement for Netscape.
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</P>
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<P>
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Give it a try. Opera has many nice features not seen before in the Linux environment.
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</P>
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<P> <hr> <!-- P -->
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<H5 ALIGN=center>
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Copyright © 2001, Matthias Arndt.<BR>
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Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR>
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Published in Issue 65 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, April 2001</H5>
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