eWEEK Labs' tests show that Beta 1 of the open-source Firefox 2.0 includes some welcome new features, catches up a bit with capabilities found in other Web browsers and adds some nice security enhancements. However, while Firefox 2.0 is shaping up to be a good upgrade to Version 1.5 of the popular Web browser, it doesn't look like it will be the slam-dunk over the forthcoming Internet Explorer 7 that Firefox 1.5 has been to the current IE 6.x. For that matter, unless Firefox 2.0 and IE 7 improve greatly before their respective releases later in 2006, neither will come close to topping the quality of the already shipping Opera 9.
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Member since:2005-11-16
Why not actually try the browser before posting?
Opera 9 has integrated content blocking and per site preferences, and there's been a spell checking add on available in Opera for quite a while.
It's true that there are useful extensions available for Firefox, but there are also useful features in Opera that aren't available as Firefox extensions. Which you choose not to live without just comes down to personal preference. Personally I value Opera's advanced window management features too much to use a simplistic tabbed browser like Firefox for heavy browsing.
Member since:2005-08-07
>>integrated content blocking
This was actually the reason I upgraded to Opera 9; and I still find the adblocking of Firefox to be superior.
I keep a copy of Opera around for those few sites that hiccup on Firefox, I'd never use IE given a choice!
As for the Spellcheck add on I'm shocked that this isn't built into the application! I'd never even thought to look for an 'add on' for Opera as that would mean trying to use an external program which cannot integrate with the browser fully. That's one of biggest benefits of Firefox--the extensions become a seamless part of the browser...
--bornagainpenguin (sure....mod me down because you dislike my opinion)
Member since:
2005-08-07
...you STFU? Seriously?
I used to use Opera back in the version 5.0 days until I was introduced to Firefox and its adblocking capabilities. It changed my world, and as the stupid ads say, gave me back the web again. I know there were a few attempts to get this functionality in Opera some time ago but the developers made quite clear they could care less and in a few cases actively seemed to push an added on commercial application to do this while also actively opposing the guy working on a freeware utility to do same. Go look through some of the Opera forums and do a few searches on 'adblocking' and you'll see what I mean.
Oh and before someone suggests turning off images, why should I reduce the quality of my browsing experience when I can have adblock refuse to download the damn ads and their assorted spyware malware cookies etc and format the page so the ads never existed?
Of course none of that addresses the ability to block flash, to add on a spell checker, to integrate bugmenot.com and much misc extensions many of us would not choose to live without given a choice.
--bornagainpenguin