Browser Extensions
Tuesday, 25. April 2006, 09:08:53
Lots of people would like to see Opera get an extensions facility similar to that available for Firefox. This would almost certainly be a bad move. Software extensions are very difficult to get right.
Windows is often derided for being unstable. Actually, Windows is extremely stable, most of the time it's all the third-party device drivers and DLLs (aka, operating system extensions) causing the problems.
Firefox is the same. If there are any stability issues, the finger is usually pointed in the direction of extensions. Extensions have been known to leak memory, lock up the browser, cause UI glitches, and in rare cases, loss of data.
Firefox and Windows both share the same problem of allowing third-party software deep access into their internals. That provides a lot of power, but also requires a lot of responsibility on all sides. While I'm sure the QA systems in place for Firefox and Windows are very good, the same cannot be said for third-party software.
The problem for Firefox, is that there is no QA in place for their extensions. Instead, they are reliant on the exension developers to provide QA, and while those developers will at least test their extension in isolation, they almost certainly are not going to be making much effort testing their extension in combination with many others.
The other things Firefox and Windows share is that they effectively require extensions for decent operation. Yes, either can be used without their extensions, but the experience is very ordinary to say the least.
So, to summarize all this, Firefox effectively requires an extension system that is inherently bad for overall stability. I do not want that for Opera.
What about Opera's new widgets? They aren't anything like extensions, more like floating chrome-less web pages. In terms of system stability, they're no worse than plain web surfing.
What I would like to see is some way that widget-like items could be incorporated into the Opera browser UI. Something similar to the way custom buttons can be dragged off a web page and onto the browser chrome. They would, of course, need to be button-sized, but to be useful they'd also need to have access to the browser UI facilities. Something simple like being able to be notified when the user opens/closes tabs, or when a page URL changes (to allow things like a PageRank display to update), and to have access to the DOM of those pages.
Like all extension-type things, security would be the major concern, but nothing that can't be worked out. It doesn't need to be fancy or as powerful as a full-blown extension system, nor should it, in my opinion. Just something simple, and just a little more powerful than what is currently available.
Windows is often derided for being unstable. Actually, Windows is extremely stable, most of the time it's all the third-party device drivers and DLLs (aka, operating system extensions) causing the problems.
Firefox is the same. If there are any stability issues, the finger is usually pointed in the direction of extensions. Extensions have been known to leak memory, lock up the browser, cause UI glitches, and in rare cases, loss of data.
Firefox and Windows both share the same problem of allowing third-party software deep access into their internals. That provides a lot of power, but also requires a lot of responsibility on all sides. While I'm sure the QA systems in place for Firefox and Windows are very good, the same cannot be said for third-party software.
The problem for Firefox, is that there is no QA in place for their extensions. Instead, they are reliant on the exension developers to provide QA, and while those developers will at least test their extension in isolation, they almost certainly are not going to be making much effort testing their extension in combination with many others.
The other things Firefox and Windows share is that they effectively require extensions for decent operation. Yes, either can be used without their extensions, but the experience is very ordinary to say the least.
So, to summarize all this, Firefox effectively requires an extension system that is inherently bad for overall stability. I do not want that for Opera.
What about Opera's new widgets? They aren't anything like extensions, more like floating chrome-less web pages. In terms of system stability, they're no worse than plain web surfing.
What I would like to see is some way that widget-like items could be incorporated into the Opera browser UI. Something similar to the way custom buttons can be dragged off a web page and onto the browser chrome. They would, of course, need to be button-sized, but to be useful they'd also need to have access to the browser UI facilities. Something simple like being able to be notified when the user opens/closes tabs, or when a page URL changes (to allow things like a PageRank display to update), and to have access to the DOM of those pages.
Like all extension-type things, security would be the major concern, but nothing that can't be worked out. It doesn't need to be fancy or as powerful as a full-blown extension system, nor should it, in my opinion. Just something simple, and just a little more powerful than what is currently available.
WIDGETIZE
olsen350 # 23. May 2006, 13:44
TreeGo # 26. May 2006, 07:21
TreeGo # 26. May 2006, 07:22
Andrew Gregory # 26. May 2006, 15:50
danigoldman # 30. June 2006, 04:10
Indyan # 18. May 2007, 10:32
Firefox, Ie7 and Maxthon have it.
Now, if someone creates a crappy userjs which messes up the formattin of pages, will you blame Opera or the guy who created the userjs?
Similarly, if the addon messes up the blame would not fall on Opera Software's shoulders.
The problem of Firefox is it's over reliance on Extensions. People need to install 20-30 extensions to make it functional. Now, that would naturally create problems.
Extensions would give power to the users. And yes, there is need for extensions. Things like custom toolbars (Stumble Upon being a good example) and AI Roboform integration is currently not possible in Opera.
Without extensions customization can be a real pain. Compare Flashgot - one click integration with so many download managers. Now, compare that to manually changing the MIME associations via Preferences. And then, if I decide to switch to another download manager I would have to redo the painful step one by one again.
Or compare the SEO bar userjs to the efficient Search Status. Seobar, adds a floating bar on top of the page which can be annoying. Search Status adds a small display bar at the bottom of the page.
Opera needs extensions if it wants to grow. Yes, an average user may not even install any extensions. But, power users - who are often opinion makers, would. Often they install Opera, find out that Opera cant do something they are accustomed to and they leave. These opinion makers helped immensely in spreading Firefox. So many people use Fx simply because they read about it in a magazine or a newspaper or their more knowledgeable friend told them about it.
Extensions wont take away anything from Opera, it would only add. It's optional. If anyone doesnt want it, they can choose not to install it. But, please give us atleast the option.