I never knew that browsing with an unsupported browser was such a critical issue… Taking into account that I’m using the browser equivalent of the latest Ferrari such a message becomes even more stupifying.

Sorry sir, our roads are simply not compatible with that nice and shiny vehicle of yours.

Hmmm. Let me see. Don’t support a browser that has been released mere days ago. But if I take the 10-yr old bug ridden IE v6 for a spin around these parts I would have no issues? Of course I can use the site just fine with Opera—so the message is completely useless and a mere nuisance at best. And here I was, thinking that we were starting to come to terms with web standards.

But then again, such a dubious site as the RipOff Report surely is only a mere outpost on the World Wild Web. The further you remove yourself from the buzzing hive in the centre, the harder it gets to properly maintain an infrastructure…

The latest version of Opera has been installed on my system for a while now. It contains a few nice improvements:

• once more, Opera is the fastest browser on the planet
• you can now synchronize browser data on different platforms and computers
• increased stability and compatibility
• email support; connections to IMAP servers no longer hang

I also appreciate the new default look of the browser—I am using that skin on my Mac (my Windows machine is still using the most minimalistic and plain skin available).

Not all good

On the downside, this new version no longer allows me to minimise/maximise the sidebar by clicking the little strip all the way on the side. That was incredibly useful, and I have no idea why the devs have changed that. Perhaps its just a matter of a bit of tinkering (like resetting my default buttons).

Also, support for NTLM based proxy servers is still flawed. This makes it nearly impossible for many system administrators to take up the browser for use on their Windows based networks.

Furthermore I would have liked to see included:

• open plug-in standard like Firefox (dare I say: essential for Opera’s survival)
• inline spell checker for textarea form elements
• improved contact list functionality and support for 3rd party integration

Further Reading

• Opera for your desktop
• Opera for your mobile device