Anything & Everything...

Those of us that use the web every day, or work in the industry should try to get a refresher course in how ordinary users (i.e., the whole world) work with their computers and use their browsers when going online.

I see it daily when helping out friends and family and have always been very interested in UI design and feature development and how that relates to user producivity.

One basic usability issue, that I STILL see all the time, relates to typing in URLs. Do you know how many billion people are still typing in "www" or "com" to go to a web site? The majority.

For a real world example, read the comments at this recent NYT article about "user tips & tricks." WOW, doesn't even begin to describe it.

It gets worse. Because of the atrocious user design foisted on the world by Microsoft, IE users never could merely type "opera", then <enter> to go to Opera's web site. You always had to type "www" and "com." What a disaster.

I used to use Netscape a long time ago, up until about v4.5, I think...until I discovered Opera v5.0. We now have millions of IE, Firefox and Safari (and new Chrome) users, still typing in ".com"...since they were brought up on IE, and can't break the habit.

Here's THE easiest and fastest way to go to a web site in your browser on your computer or phone:

Type the web site domain WITHOUT the "www" or the ".com" and press <enter> and get to that web site quickly. And, by using this tip, you will save TONS of time when browsing with Opera Mobile and Opera Mini on your phone...great for getting that info you need much faster.

(OPERA SECRET HINT: If you mis-type something in the Opera address bar to go to a site...instead of backspacing, finding your mouse to click back, highlight, blah, blah, blah, just simply hit the up-arrow key, <ENTER> and use your favorite search engine in Opera, like Yahoo or Google, to correct it for you. Faster, easier. (Where do we see search engine integration in the address bar now? You're welcome, Chrome.)

(And, if you haven't tried Opera v9.6, try it for a few days. You won't go back.)

I've noticed some more debate about "why/why not" to have extensions in Opera, on various fora. Many people seem to have not seen Jon von Tetzchner's (Opera's CEO) comments about this topic, so I thought I'd post it and maybe put it to bed, already.

It's something [extensions] that we have evaluated many times. We'll probably do something in the future. Our focus has been more on widgets – making applications that run outside the browser and are able to build on web technology. On the extensions side, traditionally our focus has been 'let's try to build as much into the browser as possible so people have a choice'. So we do it in a way that's tightly integrated and works out of the box. We've done so much – you mention extensions through user JavaScript, we've done it through CSS and we continue to find new ways to do it. It's clear that Firefox has a more extensible way of doing that. It will not be soon but we may provide some easier ways in the future to add more functionality to Opera.

So, there you have it. In my experience, with or without extensions, Opera has been the most productive, most innovative browser out there for years, YEARS; along with the fastest. Yes, there's all kinds of speed tests that everybody shouts about how their browser is faster. Everyone can make their own decision, so just try Opera on your own PC or Mac or phone or set-top device, with your own favorite sites and decide for yourself.

There's a list a mile long about the useful features in Opera that most of Internet Explorer or Safari users have never heard of, like Speed Dial or Fast Forward. (There's even some, that Firefox users haven't seen, like Rewind and Fast Forward or using your desktop bookmarks on your phone with Opera LINK.) You won't go back after trying it for a few days. (By the way, if you miss how your old browser looks while trying Opera, just go and get a new skin to pretend Opera is IE, or Safari or Firefox. You may even find a cool, new favorite skin that you love, like the Neanderthal skin!)

Given the Opera Desktop team's announcement about their aggressive roadmp for desktop browser development having a raptor theme, you might be wondering what a stoop, while hunting, actually looks like (wherein the Peregrine Falcon experiences the largest g-forces of any large animal in the natural world -- 25 g).

Wow, scary for a poor rabbit or pigeon, but very cool for browser users...!

Johan over at the Opera Desktop Team blog just posted an Apple-like teaser about v9.2 (aka Merlin) being released with a feature never before seen in a desktop browser. Given Opera's history of innovation, I'm sure Mozilla, Webkit (Safari's engine) and the IE7 teams just stopped breathing.

(It also appears that the Opera Desktop Team are Rolls-Royce aficionadoes.)