Opera 7 gripes

It's not perfect (yet)

[mischief]

Things that annoy me about Opera:

• Password management (basic HTTP auth passwords, not with the wand) is crap
  - not possible to save passwords for entire directories
  - same page, different query string: "remeber password" option useless
  - password protected pages are not reloaded after crash (yes it's a feature but at least make it an option)
  
• SSL certificate management is crap.
  - using an intranet with https and a fake certificate? wish you could tell Opera that certificate is OK? tough
  - "don't show this again" option doesn't work when using forms on inscure pages that send data scripts behind SSL
  
• Installing new resets .ini files to defaults
  - spent hours customising your menus? you'll have to do it again, sorry
  
• Changelogs are incomplete
  - eg: no notice that ctrl+space doesn't open your homepage in a new window; no notice that .ini files are incompatible; etc
  
• Bug database is private
  - is this really necessary? why hide them if they're such an "open" browser?
  
• Customer support is awful
  - no response to three emails about their directory of hotbar panels
  - no acknowledgement of bugs submitted
  - no acknowledgement or credit for patches sent
  

OK so it's still the best browser. But, sometimes, just arg.

[Hester]

If you read the Opera Forums (via the Support link I think on the main Opera web pages) you will see countless bugs being discussed. Some are critical, some slight.

I have problems using it, so I always end up going back to Mozilla. When it's good enough I may consider using Opera all the time.

Make sure you download the latest version too - 7.11. The list of bug fixes is quite good.

[mischief]

I haven't read the forums, but I have been using it since 10 hours a day since it came out. It's been pretty stable so far!

[outrun]

Ok I love opera, always loved opera, even though it has rendering problems like this

BODY {margin-left:0; margin-right:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;}

never works, maybe im doing something wrong.

I read this thread, and go to try 7.11, and I didnt think it would apply to my bookmarks, all my well thought out bookmarks are gone (over 40), I should have been more dilligent. Still love opera faster andmore stable for me.

regards
Mark

[Slade]

I've upgraded a two machines along the path since 6.x and haven't lost my bookmarks yet...

[universalis]

Ok I love opera, always loved opera, even though it has rendering problems like this

BODY {margin-left:0; margin-right:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;}

never works, maybe im doing something wrong.

You're doing something wrong ;) You need to set the padding to zero for Opera, not the margin. Hence:

body {margin:0;padding:0;}

Will work for all CSS browsers including Opera.

[tedster]

I've also been very pleased with the ease of upgrade. All bookmarks preserved, many preferences as well, including my custom choice of editor for "View Source".

The only problem I've seen so far is an oddity with a complex position:fixed div -- when the rest of the page scrolls, parts of the div disappear.

[papabaer]

I've never lost a bookmark or custom setting yet. Yes, v7.11 Wand is quirky on a few sites. Most instances however, in my own experience, the Wand works great.

Tedster, I wonder if it is a draw-in/resource priority, issue with the position:fixed div? What are your thoughts?

I found one bug present in v7.10/7.11, where Opera will repeat a bottom margin of a final paragraph or other element. I've had to use a .class bottom-margin: 0; and use padding in it's place on several occasions. Opera Soft is aware of this, I expect it to be fixed next update.

Now as far as thins Opera does so well, and I find very useful, check out this post: [webmasterworld.com ] - Opera's Alternate Stylesheets.

[tedster]

Tedster, I wonder if it is a draw-in/resource priority, issue with the position:fixed div? What are your thoughts?

Not being a browser developer, I can't say for sure, but it does look that way. I assume that the browser must redraw the position:fixed div as the page scrolls - and it seems to forget in this case (there are nested divs inside the fixed div.) The elements in the div never reappear unless you scroll back up. Sort of defeats the purpose of :fixed.

It's a bit frustrating - one of the natural uses of position:fixed would be for menus. But it's not nice to have the navigation vanish altogether when you scroll! Fortunately, this isn't my site. It's a sample site for an open architecture community system that I was checking out.

Early Gecko engine browsers used to let a fixed div scroll for a few pixels before redrawing in the original position - making the whole div jitter around in a very disturbing fashion.

[papabaer]

It does appear to be a resource allocation balancing act. Rendering speed, with resource/system demands kept to a minimum, while still deploying a very small footprint.

All in all, I'm inclined to be totally impressed with the results. There is quite a bit of horsepower being delivered in a very small, 3.2mb package.

[Hester]

I try to love Opera but every time I use it I find something wrong that just cannot be got round. For instance, one site stops half way before all the images are loaded, and the other images are very, very slow to load. On the site's main page, if you use a direct link, not one of the images load. Yet if you go via the History, the images are there.

Mozilla loads the images almost instantly, never stopping. However, that also has a showstopper bug. After so long it seems to run out of memory. Pages are drawn on top of others, icons go missing from the toolbar, and the whole thing freezes up.

I would use Explorer, but I don't care for those pop-up ads and lack of CSS commands. Plus no tabbed windows. It's really looking old hat these days.