Opera 9.5 vs Firefox 3
Some might remember my infamous Opera 9 vs Firefox 2 vs Internet Explorer 7 post. I’ve decided to take a look back in the past and repeat the experience as new versions of both Opera and Firefox appear to be nearing release. In contrast I’ve chosen to leave the upcoming IE8 out of the battle because it does not seem to be coming as soon as it’s competitors. Safari along other browsers are probably very functional but they don’t spike my interest and don’t seem to make as much flame wars material.
For this review I’ve installed Opera 9.5 Beta 2 and Firefox 3 Beta 5 and aimed at comparing them. Lets get whatever is common out of the way. Tabbed browsing, pop-up blocker, anti-phising, RSS feed, skins, integrated search, anti-phising. All this is well and pretty much all the browsers woke up and followed the trends that became quite successful.
To some respect Firefox has been getting an incredible growth since it’s release and it’s third version is a definite step up from previous versions. Opera on the other hand has been around for over a decade and has been fine tuning it’s browser and pushed innovative features. When it comes to a default install, Opera comes with an incredible amount of built-in features like mouse gesture, IRC, email, bittorrent, speed dial, widgets and Opera Link.
Opera Link is probably the most important feature that adds to functionality to the browser. With this service you can sync your bookmarks, notes, to different locations you are using Opera, whether it’s on your laptop or cellphone, Opera Link will sync your information so you always have access to it. They also have a web page accessible from any browser that can display the bookmarks and speed dial (like quick bookmarks).
Concerning Firefox, being open source and it’s ability to enable extensions enables it to mimic most the features Opera has by default. But having a large community pushing for new extensions allows it to be customizable to your heats content. Sky seems to be the limit.
In the end, if you start with a barebone installation Firefox will be very functional but will lack utilities I’ve grown accustom with Opera, however it only takes a few minutes to hunt down the proper extensions and have it come to the same level as Opera. For new users it’s very useful to have simple features and access to let you learn how the application works, and over time you can find out how to enable additional features.
As web designers continue to adopt web standards Opera and Firefox will rarely encounter a web site that they don’t display properly. The worse case is when a web designer purposefully blocks access to certain features to an Opera user. In such a case it’s possible to change the way Opera identifies itself and mask it as either Firefox or Internet Explorer.
So is there a winner out of this versus? Sorry to not fuel the might of any fanboy but both browsers have their own personality and they do feel a bit different. The best is to try them out in the links provided above and get a feel for them. The same way there is a million email applications or instant messaging software, browsers are not any different. As time goes on you will notice less differences between browsers. But it’s important to crush this idea that Internet Explorer = the Internet, people need to be aware they have the choice to drive something else.
I’ll leave you with a funny picture that found it’s way on Digg and many other websites. Feel free to leave comments below and point out any serious omissions on my part.
