gHacks technology news » opera

Opera Skin For Firefox

Martin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:18:15 +0000

Version 3.6 of the Firefox web browser introduces several new design options for theme creators that are not available in previous versions of the Internet browser including the latest official release version Firefox 3.5.4. One of the first themes to make use of this new features is the Operetta theme which is available as an experimental theme from the official Mozilla Firefox website.

The Operetta theme comes in two versions, a normal and advanced version, which differ mainly in the toolbar layout. Both Operetta themes are based on the design of the Opera 10 web browser with the normal version making use of the standard toolbar layout with tabs below the other toolbars and the advanced version placing the tabbar above all other toolbars.

Both editions of the Firefox theme look professionally done and the selection comes down to the personal preference of the user. Some Firefox design mockups suggest that the developer’s are thinking about moving the tabbar to the top of the web browser header and the Operatta Advanced theme for Firefox can be used to get accustomed to this possibility. It might also be the prime choice for Opera or Google Chrome users as these web browsers place the tabbar by default above most – in Google Chrome’s case all – other toolbars. The Operetta and Operetta Advanced themes are available at the Mozilla Firefox website.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3.6, firefox theme, opera

Opera Halloween Edition

Martin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:41:46 +0000

Halloween, which is celebrated on October 31, has roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian All Saints Day. Much of its symbolism comes from the past including wearing costumes and masks, bonfires or lanterns. If you want to top it up a notch you might want to download the Halloween edition of the Opera web browser which has been just designed for Halloween. Users who are not using Opera currently may download the Halloween edition right away while regular Opera users need to backup some system settings before they can install the custom Halloween edition of the web browser:

If you already have Opera, you need to backup 3 files and rename them in order to get the Halloween experience:

1. Open menu “Help” » “About Opera”.
2. Find the path to the catalog with user data (”Path” » “Preferences”) and copy the address
3. Close Opera
4. Open the catalog with user data found above (for Windows: “Start” » “Run” » paste the address you copied before)
5. Remove or rename the following files:
* bookmarks.adr
* speeddial.ini
* operaprefs.ini
6. Install the customized version (without removing the previous one)

The download basically consists of the latest official version of the Opera web browser (which is Opera 10.01) and the custom Halloween theme which consists of a Halloween themed speed dial background image.

Even better than that single speed dial background that gets shipped with the Opera Halloween edition are additional speed dial backgrounds for Halloween that are available on the Opera website. If you do not like the standard one you simply can download and use another of the speed dial backgrounds. You can download the Opera Halloween edition from the Opera blog post where it was announced in.

Tags: opera, opera 10, opera 10.01, opera halloween, web browser

Opera 10.01

Martin — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:11:03 +0000

The Opera developers have released version 10.01 of the Opera web browser. The version comes as a surprise as beta versions of opera 10.10 have already been released in the past by the team. This version of Opera is a security and stability upgrade with no apparent other changes. Since it is a security update it is recommended for all Opera 10 users to update their web browser as soon as possible to protect the browser and the computer system from malicious attacks exploiting these issues.

The new release appeared on Opera’s ftp server yesterday and has since then been moved to the homepage where the update can be seen and downloaded by everyone.

The security and stability update is available for all supported operating systems (Windows, Linux and Mac). Interested users can visit the changelogs for further release information. Opera 10.01 does not include Opera Unite which is still slated for a release in the final version of Opera 10.10.

Opera 10.01 is available at the Opera website and through the web browser’s auto-update functionality.

Tags: opera, opera 10, opera security, opera unite, opera update

Opera Widgets For Desktop

Martin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:36:36 +0000

The Opera developers have taken a different road than most web browser manufacturers when it comes to add-ons for their web browser. The main difference is that Opera Widgets are running in their own window which often made them more complicated to use especially on user systems with low screen estate. Today, the Opera developers have announced an interesting new option concerning Opera Widgets. The new feature makes it possible to run Opera Widgets on the computer desktop without Opera running.

The Opera web browser still needs to be installed on the computer system but that is the only requirement. Widgets will work even if it is closed (and never opened again).

Opera users who want to test the new functionality need to download the latest Opera labs build (which is the latest Opera 10.10 build) to do so. The download links are provided in the post announcing the new feature over at the Opera website.

Opera Widgets and the SDK to create widgets are available at the Opera Widgets website. Widgets are available for many web services and uses.

Already installed widgets need to be imported to a location on the local hard drive. Opera will open the Widget Import Wizard automatically if it finds installed Opera Widgets. The wizard is later available under File > Import > Import Widgets if the necessity arrives.

New widgets are installed from the Opera Widgets website. The Opera web browser needs to be used to do that. A click on the launch button next to each widget will display the widget installation dialog. Here it is possible to customize the installation by selecting an installation folder and the shortcuts that should be created.

The widgets can then be started by double-clicking their shortcuts or from the installation directory where an .exe should be available that can be started.

Tags: opera, opera 10, opera widgets, opera widgets for desktop

Opera 10.10 Beta

Martin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:21:51 +0000

The Opera developers have released a beta version of the upcoming Opera 10.10 web browser. The biggest change in the beta is the inclusion of Opera Unite which provides web server features. Since web browsers usually act as clients it is now possible to have direct server client communications between Opera users.

The Opera Unite version that is integrated in the Opera 10.10 beta comes with several pre-installed applications including phoot sharing, messenger, file sharing, web server, media player capabilities and note posting with additional applications available from the official Opera Unite website at the Opera website.

Here are a few examples of what Opera users can do with Opera Unite:

Create photo galleries and make them available without uploading them to a photo hosting website.
File sharing without uploading the files to a file host
Accessing the media collection from anywhere with the Media Player application
Document Upload to your home computer from anywhere
Creating chat rooms on a computer running Opera Unite.
Hosting web sites with the web server application

The inclusion of Opera Unite in the beta release could be what developers have been waiting for to start developing applications for Opera Unite. About a dozen additional applications are already available at the Opera Unite website with everything set to take off now.

You can give the Opera 10.10 Beta with Opera Unite included a try by downloading it from the Opera website. Additional applications are available at the Opera Unite site.

Tags: opera, opera 10, opera beta, opera unite

Expect A Faster Firefox 3.6 Beta Next Week

Martin — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:36:31 +0000

The Mozilla Firefox developers are planning to release the first beta of the upcoming web browser Firefox 3.6 next week (to be precise on October 14 which is also the release date for the beta of Firefox 3.5.4). Not that many Firefox users will take notice of these two beta version releases but those that do will notice performance improvements in Firefox 3.6 beta. The Mozilla team is not only concentrating on the usual options to increase the web browser’s performance (that is JavaScript mainly) but also performance of the web browser in general which would include loading times and responsiveness.

The guys at Betanews have tested the latest alpha release version of Firefox 3.6 and came to the conclusion that the new version increases performance by 22.8% compared to the latest official release version Firefox 3.5.3. This performance does not come near the performance of Webkit based browsers yet but it shows dedication to close the gap between the browsers.

It remains to be seen on the other hand if most users will notice the 22.8% performance increase in Firefox 3.6 Beta or if it is just more a figure without real values to everyday users. Performance is definitely not everything. The fastest web browser in the test, Google Chrome 3, does not pass the Acid 3 test which Opera 10 for example does.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3, firefox 3.6, google chrome, opera, web browser, web browser test

Opera Mini 5 beta

Martin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:03:45 +0000

Opera has just released a beta version of their acclaimed mobile web browser Opera Mini 5. The beta version, which is available publicly can be downloaded to a mobile phone directly or to the computer system first. Versions for Blackberrys and Java compatible cell phones are provided on the download page. Opera 5 Mini comes with several new features that make the mobile browsing experience more pleasant. Some of them are:

Sleek design — Opera Mini 5 features a new, intuitive and advanced look and feel.
Tabbed browsing — This desktop favorite is now available for Opera Mini. Tabs allow users to browser several sites simultaneously. This helps users easily jump from one page to another with the click of a tab.
Touchscreen or keypad browsing — Opera Mini caters to the needs of your phone, offering optimal browsing for both touchscreen and keypad-based phones.
Password manager — Opera Mini is a virtual memory bank, securely saving all passwords for e-mail, social-networking sites, online banking and more.
Speed Dial — This is our take on a table of contents for your Web adventure. Opera’s Speed Dial will greet you with your pre-selected Internet favorites upon loading the browser.

The Opera developers have released a video that demonstrates the functionality of Opera Mini 5.

Mobile users who are interested in testing the new Opera 5 Mini web browser can point their mobile devices to m.opera.com/next to download it directly from the device or to the download page at the Opera website to download it to their PC.

Tags: blackberry, cell-phone, java, mobile browser, mobile phone, opera, opera mini, opera mini 5, web browser

Web Browser Have Impact On Battery Life

Martin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:52:49 +0000

A recent Anandtech study suggests that the web browser has an impact on a mobile PCs battery usage. The test, which analyzed battery performance under various popular web browsers and three websites, can probably not be seen as representative but it could indicate which web browser uses less battery power to operate. A test with more websites would certainly help to get a global result. Still, test results were somewhat surprisingly as the difference between the best and worst performing web browser were greater than two hours.

The web browsers of the test were: Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.5.2 with and without adblock add-on, Google Chrome 2, Opera 9.64, 10.0b3 and Safari 4. Three laptops were used in the test. Two entry level Gateway laptops with AMD and Intel cpus and the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA netbook.

Gateway NV52

Gateway NV58

Asus EEE PC 1005HA

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 is the web browser that drains the least amount of battery on the two entry level laptops. Most other web browsers with the exception of Safari come close to that results, especially Firefox with the adblock add-on. The benefit of the adblock add-on suggests that web advertisement does have an impact on battery usage. Safari 4 is the only web browser in the test that performed worst in all three tests.

Google Chrome 2 was first in the netbook test with all other web browsers close by except for Safari which completely drained the battery of the netbook more than two hours earlier than the other web browsers.

Even if the test needs to be replicated with a larger website sample size it seems to indicate that laptop users are better off without the Safari web browser. Internet Explorer 8, Mozilla Firefox with adblock and Google Chrome were the best performing web browsers in the test.

Tags: battery, battery drain, firefox, google chrome, internet-explorer, laptop, netbook, opera, safari, web browser

Opera 10 Portable

Martin — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 20:15:15 +0000

Recent coverage and news of the Opera 10 web browser might have sparked interest in some users to give this web browser a try. The Opera web browser is still an underdog compared to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Mozilla’s Firefox but was able to stand its ground in the last years. You can read up on the Opera 10 final release in our review of that version. The portable version of Opera 10 is basically the same version but without the need to install the web browser before it is ready for use.

A few additional benefits are offered by the portable version of Opera 10. The most important aspects are that the portable version will not have unwanted effects on other installed web browsers including other versions of the Opera web browser.

Other benefits include that the portable version can be run from a portable device like an USB stick leaving no data traces on the local computer system. Opera 10 portable is provided by a third party developer who is not associated with the Opera company. Portable versions are available as English and German language versions but only for the Windows operating systems. Downloads are provided by the third party developer at the website Opera USB.

Tags: opera, opera 10, opera 10 portable, opera portable, portable software, web browser, windows software

Opera 10.10 Dev Build With Opera Unite

Martin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:16:31 +0000

The Opera Desktop Team has released a development release of Opera 10 with the version number 10.10. This release includes Opera Unite which offers web server functionality in the web browser. The final version of Opera 10 which was released not long ago did not include Opera Unite. While Opera Unite is definitely the most prominent addition in Opera 10.10 other additions have been made that are worth a closer look. These additions are mostly stability fixes and minor improvements to the Opera web browser.

The changelog lists many fixes to the Opera interface, to Opera Unite, Opera Mail and Chat, the build in Bittorrent client and to operating specific versions of the web browser. All in all a few dozens fixes which comes surprisingly that short after the release of Opera 10. Several of the fixes fix crashes and optimize computer memory usage.

Users who are interested in additional information can visit the Opera Desktop team blog to do so. It has to be noted again that this is a development release which should not be installed in productive environments (unless the user knows the impact this can have).

Opera 10.10 is available for the Microsoft Windows (msi or classic), Apple Macintosh (universal or Intel) and Linux operating system.

Tags: opera, opera 10.10, opera development, opera unite, opera update, Operating Systems, web browser

Opera 10 Release Candidate 2

Martin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:13:32 +0000

The Opera desktop team has released the second release candidate of Opera 10. The latest version of the Opera web browser is still on track for a Tuesday release. This second release candidate is not available as an automatic update and can only be downloaded directly from the Opera website.

Opera 10 Release Candidate 2 includes a variety of fixes. The most noteworthy are stability, icon and native skin fixes as well as import of widgets when upgrading from Opera 9.64. The full changelog is available on the blog post of the Opera desktop team that is announcing the new release candidate.

The stability fixes are largely fixes that prevent browser crashes in various usage situations. Opera 10 Release Candidate 2 is available for all supported operating systems (Linux, Mac, Windows). Download links and changelogs are available at the Opera website.

Tags: opera, opera 10, opera 10 final, opera 10 release candidate 2, web browser

Another Report Finds Internet Explorer 8 To Be The Most Secure Web Browser

Martin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:59:23 +0000

A web browsing security test that pitted Internet Explorer 8 against Firefox 3, Opera 10, Safari 4 and Google Chrome 4 came to the conclusion that Internet Explorer 8 is the most secure web browser, at least in the area that were tested by security research company NSS Labs. The report, which is available at the company’s website for download was sponsored by Microsoft’s online security engineering team and later send to marketing after the results have been published.

The test analyzed the web browser’s phishing protection. Both Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3 (that is Firefox 3.0.11 and not Firefox 3.5) managed to score an average block rate of 83% and 80% during the 14 days of testing. Opera 10 managed to block 54%, Google Chrome 26% and Safari a whopping 2%.

The average phishing URL catch rate for browsers over the entire 14 day test period ranged from 2% for Safari 4 to 83% for Windows Internet Explorer 8. Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3 were the most consistent in the high level of protection they offered. Statistically, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3 had a two-way tie for first, given the margin of error of 3.96%. Opera 10 beta came in third due to inconsistent protection during the test. Chrome 2 was consistent, albeit at a much lower rate of protection, and Safari offered minimal overall protection.

The test analyzed the average response time to phishing attacks. Internet Explorer 8 finished first with an average response time of about 5 hours closely followed by Firefox and Google Chrome. It took Opera about double the time and Safari more than 10 times to protect against emerging phishing attacks.

Many users will criticize the test because it has been sponsored by Microsoft. This alone should not be reason to dismiss the findings as inaccurate. There have however been accusations of manipulated reports by NSS Labs in the past which are for example mentioned in a blog post at the Opera website. Some of the points of criticism like mixing beta and final versions or limiting test urls to a very low number are also valid points in the new report.

Even critics have to admit on the other hand that Microsoft has made progress with Internet Explorer 8. The web browser might still not be as fast as the others but it is definitely a solid web browser which could be the most secure web browser when it comes to protecting users from phishing attacks. It has to be noted that the test is only considering the automated protection.

Tags: firefox, google chrome, internet explorer 8, internet-explorer, opera, phishing, phishing protection, safari

Add Google Sandbox Search Engine To Web Browsers

Martin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:56:45 +0000

You might have already heard about Google’s new sandbox search engine that is showcasing a new search infrastructure. Google invited webmasters to test the search engine and provide feedback which might indicate that the search engine algorithm is still tweaked. Users on the other hand can enjoy a Google search engine without advertisement and other annoyances that displays results faster and is said to list less spam results on the search engine results pages.

Some users might therefor like to switch to the new Google Search engine. The sandbox search engine can be opened directly by pointing the web browser to this url: http://www2.sandbox.google.com/

The manual approach works nicely but there is also the option to add the Google search engine to the web browser’s search box. The following guide will show how to add the new Google search engine to various web browsers:

Firefox

Firefox users can download the Add To Search Bar extension for Firefox. This add-on makes it super-easy to add new search forms to the search box in the Firefox web browser. All they need to do after installation is to visit the Google Sandbox search engine, right-click it and select Add to Search Bar from the context menu.

Opera

Opera users can right-click the Google search form to add the search engine to the Opera search box. The entry Create Search opens a menu that can be used to add Google Search to the search box. Users need to add a keyword for the search which will then appear as one of the search engines the Opera user can pick from.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome users need to right-click the address bar of the Google browser and select Edit Search Engines once they have opened the sandbox search engine. Google Chrome will automatically detect the new search engine and display it as one of the available search engines. The Google Sandbox search engine can then be added as a default search engine.

Internet Explorer 8

Internet Explorer 8 users need to open the following website in Internet Explorer [link]. The Google Search engine can be added by pasting the url of a TEST search in the Google Sandbox search engine in the URL field on the page and selecting a name for it. A click on Install will open a menu to add the Google Sandbox search engine to Internet Explorer.

Tags: firefox, google chrome, google sandbox, google search, google search engine, internet-explorer, opera, search engine

Opera 10 Beta 3

Martin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:41:42 +0000

The Opera development team has released a new beta version of the Opera 10 Internet browser. Opera 10 beta 3 is now available for all supported operating systems. The new version comes with several improvements and fixes, most noteworthy improvements to the stability of the web browser and a multitude of bug fixes which can mainly be attributed to Opera’s automated crash reporting tool. This beta version has also been translated into 38 different languages including English, German, French and Chinese.

Other changes have been made to the visual tabs which can now be displayed on the right or left side of the web browser window. Some improvements have also been made to the tabs in the Opera web browser which now feature a better attention state design. The Opera skin has received further facelifts

Several problems in previous versions have been fixed in this new beta version including problems when trying to open pdf files, saving sessions and viewing pages using webfonts in Windows 98. Interested users can download the new beta version of the Opera web browser from the Opera website. Direct links are available for Windows, Linux and Macintosh.

Tags: opera, opera 10, opera 10 beta 3, opera download, opera update, web browser

Working With Many Tabs In Opera

Martin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:53:39 +0000

There was a time when I used Opera almost exclusively. This has changed with the rise of the Firefox web browser but I do know quite a few users who use Opera as their main web browser. Rarst likes Opera. That becomes apparent if you look at the comments that he leaves here at Ghacks. His article Tweak Opera for large amount of tabs that he posted on his blog yesterday examines and describes some tweaks and settings that Opera users have when working with many tabs in the web browser.

It is a pretty solid walkthrough that unfortunately lacks images to go along with the article. The tips and tweaks are divided into these five subjects:

Give tabs more space
Prevent unwanted close
Change tab logic
Use hotkeys
Show tabs in full screen mode

Most of the tips and tweaks describe Opera settings and options that can be changed to make it easier and more convenient to work with many tabs in the Opera browser. Probably the most useful tip for a “minimal user interface” type of user like me is the description of how to remove interface elements from the toolbar to provide more space for the tabs.

The article is worth a read for all users who work regularly or partially with the Opera web browser.

Tags: internet browser, opera, opera browser, opera tabs, opera tweaks, opera-tips, rarst, tabbed-browsing

Google Image Relinker

Martin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:26:43 +0000

Google Image Search is a very comprehensive image search engine. It basically works the same way as the standard Google search with the difference that image thumbnails are displayed as results on the results pages. Additional information like the domain name the image was posted on or the size of the image are displayed on the result pages as well. Filters allow the user to find images that match certain criteria like resolutions or colors.

One aspect of Google Image Search that is bugging many users is that it does not link directly to the image but to a Google page that displays the website containing the image in a frame. This means that users need to click on the image to be taken to the framed page where they can either scroll until they find the image or click on the image that is displayed on top to display the full sized image.

The Google Image Relinker userscript changes this default behavior by linking directly to the images in the Google Image search results pages. The developer has confirmed that the script works in Firefox, Opera and Seamonkey with the possibility that it will work in other web browsers that support userscripts (Google Chrome, Safari) as well.

The script basically safes time by allowing the user to view the image directly from the search result pages. A link to the framed version (which is the default way) is provided as well. Google Image Relinker is an interesting userscript for those users who work with the Google Image Search engine regularly.

Tags: firefox, Google, google image, google image search, greasemonkey, image search, opera, seamonkey, userscript

New Microsoft Proposal About Windows 7E

Martin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 10:15:15 +0000

Windows 7E is the version of the Windows 7 operating system that will be sold – as of now – in all countries of the European Union. It is basically a version of the Windows 7 operating system without Internet Explorer. This has caused quite some concern by users in the European Union as they face several problems that users of regular Windows 7 editions do not face including the impossibility to perform an upgrade of Windows Vista to Windows 7 or the problem that arises from not having an Internet browser.

Microsoft’s new proposal could ultimately remove Windows 7E from the operating system landscape. They suggest to provide a ballot screen after installation giving users the choice to install a web browser of their choice from a selection of possible alternatives including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Safari.

A mockup screen was posted that visualizes how the ballot screen could look like (please note that the browserballot.eu website is currently not working)

Additional blank spots are reserved on the right side of the screen that could be filled with additional web browsers if requested or needed. It should be noted that this new proposal would mean that Internet Explorer would be installed as the default web browser during installation of the operating system and that the ballot screen would be displayed afterwards to give the user the option to install another web browser and make it the default browser on the computer system.

Microsoft’s proposal is available at the Microsoft Presspass website.

Tags: browser ballot, browserballot.eu, european union, firefox, google chrome, microsoft, opera, safari, windows 7 europe, windows 7e

Re-discovering filters in Opera’s M2

Tobey — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 09:27:21 +0000

I’ve finally decided recently to dedicate some time to re-thinking the way I’ve used Opera’s M2 e-mail client for some years now. And I’m glad I made that decision because it completely changed the way I interacted with my e-mails, for the better, to be noted. If you are an Operator (Opera user) and never really got the hang of how M2’s e-mail filtering works, you might consider this article a useful spotlight directed at it.

To grow accustomed to the way M2 sorts e-mails, one has to first get rid of prejudice created by most other e-mail clients about how this kind of application is meant to work. Once you get to know it, you either love or hate the way it works. In most clients, we were used to sorting messages into virtual folders where they can be moved and stored for later referenfce. By default, M2 seems to be a bit clumsy at this since it throws all your mails into one “Received” folder and as your mail database grows larger, it becomes a total mess that is seemingly hard to put in any reasonable order. This first impression is probably the main cause of people rather switching to their ol’ reliable Outlook Express or similar external application. However, a good way exists to sort messages in a convenient way, in M2 called filters.

These virtual boundaries are not much different from typical folders as we know them. They too can be used as a storage place for your e-mails with one little difference – filters are by its very substance always affected by rules that you set. These can be affected by pretty much everything that the e-mail container holds, ranging from the sender’s address to the entire message body contents. And besides that, they can be extended by the use of regular expressions. Messages then only appear in the filters they were assigned to. By default, they also still appear in the root “Received” folder but this can be easily changed by enabling the “Mark messages as filtered” option, which basically ensures that they don’t appear anywhere else but the places they are set to, which cleans up the root folder significantly.

Let’s have a simple example. Say you would like to set a filter (folder) for all newsletters. What you do is add a filter and either have it learn what messages it should draw into itself by initially moving the e-mails in it by yourself. Or, you can choose another approach. For example, you create the filter, set it to retract all messages from address news@letter.com and check the “Filter existing messages” option so that all existing mails in the root folder are re-labeled (virtually re-positioned). Assuming you also checked the option to Mark messages as filtered, all items from this address now only appear in this filter, nowhere else. And should a new one arrive from this address within a second, it’ll be automaticly assigned to this filter. Adding new addresses to filters is very easy, all you need to do is right-click the concerned item and select Show in > Filter name > This filter and add a rule. Opera asks you if you’d like to add current sender address and you can also choose to again refilter all existing mails.

My setup using this threaded technology now works like this: All incoming messages that have not a filter assigned appear in the “Unread” folder placed at the very top of the tree. From here, I can either “Read (K)” them, thus moving to the “Received” folder, delete them right away, assign them an existing filter or create a completely new category based on the unique content of that particular item. Other messages falling into one or more categories are automatically moved into their respective categories and I can read them after switching into those particular views.

This is a rather basic setup using little of M2’s strong sorting skills but it’s worked for me so far and can be further extended by applying advanced rules. Along with the quick search capability based on indexing, that is built into M2, this powerful system provides you with good options to label and very quickly locate e-mails you need to refer to at any one time. The final important thing to mention is that these filters with their rules and contents can be exported into the standard *.mbs file for backup purposed.

Tags: Email, opera, opera email, opera email client, opera m2, opera mail

Opera 10 Beta 2 Released

Martin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:22:11 +0000

Opera 10 Beta 2 was released earlier today by the Opera development team. Users who are already using a version of Opera 10 should consider upgrading to this new release which brings it one step closer to the first release candidate. The changelog lists many changes for this release especially for the Opera user interface, mail, chat and news, display and scripting, security and network. The Windows changelog alone lists more than 100 items that have been added, changed or fixed in Opera 10 Beta 2.

Many users in the Opera forum are reporting problems with the new beta release. ~~The developers are actually warning users stating that it “may have severe known issues, including crashes and data loss situations”.~~ That’s not very encouraging and it is therefor suggested to try the web browser in a test environment and not in a productive environment to ensure that it is working without problems.

Opera 10 Beta 2 can be downloaded directly from the Opera homepage for all supported operating systems. The changelogs are available for Windows, Linux and Mac.

Probably the most important changes (besides the interface changes) are a fix for the high memory use of the web browser related to the disk cache on huge torrents, improved anti-spoof checking, fixes for several scripts and services at Facebook, Wikipedia and Yahoo, enabled torrent downloading with Opera Turbo enabled and fixing the problem that sessions where not saved correctly on some systems when closing the web browser.

Tags: opera, opera 10, opera 10 beta 2, opera beta, opera update, web browser

Web Browser Backup And Restore

Martin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:58:26 +0000

The importance of web browsers has risen in the past years especially with the shift from desktop applications to web based applications. Web browsers are not just tools anymore that can display websites on a computer system, they can be used for a wide variety of services which makes it important to be prepared for disasters that can struck at anytime.

FavBackup is a web browser backup and restore application for the Windows operating system that supports the five popular web browsers Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari and Google Chrome. Users can use FavBackup to backup and restore web browser settings and files.

FavBackup displays a list of options and web browsers in its interface upon startup. It should be noted that the software program is fully portable and does not require an installation. The options include creating a backup of the selected default web browser installation, of all selected web browser installations and to restore these settings again. Only one web browser can be backed up or restored at a time. It is for example possible to backup all different versions of Firefox or Google Chrome using the safe backup option. Backing up Firefox and Internet Explorer on the other hand would require two backup runs.

The difference between the backup and safe backup option is that the former only backs up the default web browser installation while the second will backup all installations of the selected web browser. FavBackup will display a list of settings and files that can be backed up after making the selection. This includes backing up bookmarks, cookies, plugins, extensions, preferences and history among other things.

One interesting aspect of the program is that it is possible to restore less data. It is for example possible to only restore bookmarks or cookies although a full browser backup has been created during the backup phase.

There are a few things that should be improved by the developer though. The first would be to provide an option to backup multiple web browsers at once. This is more comfortable than having to start the backup software multiple times to backup all installed browsers. An option to backup portable versions of the web browsers would also come in handy. Finally support for Opera 10 has to be added so that it can be backed up as well.

FavBrowser is a free portable software program for the Windows operating system that can be used to backup and restore web browsers easily.

Tags: backup, browser backup, firefox, google chrome, internet-explorer, opera, portable software, restore, restore browser, safari, web browser, windows software

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