Hello World

I think the biggest problem Opera has is its image. They haven't marketed it enough and especially people who have tried an older version of it still think it doesn't support HTML/CSS as well as Mozilla or that it has a big ad. Many people I've talked to who use Firefox have thought that Opera still comes with the ad box and/or the old look and feel which wasn't as good as the current one is.

Some of these people have tried Opera and actually switched to using it as their main browser. The number one problem is the lack of marketing. Opera's biggest competitor at the moment is probably Firefox which has very strong marketing. They have a big community, they are supported by Google which pays users for placing Firefox ads on the site if a visitor clicking it downloads and installs Firefox and things like that.

Firefox is the press favorite and it has gained a lot of visibility on many less specialized websites and even newspapers. This makes it often the first and perhaps the only choice for beginner and intermediate computer users who may not have much knowledge about alternative browsers. The worse image from the older Opera versions with the ads reduces its appeal on power users who often prefer ad-free applications and websites.

Feature-wise Firefox might have a slight upper hand since it has extensions. However, I've never needed any feature that Opera did not come bundled with. I think Opera's advantage is its speed and usability. The user interface is much better than in the alternatives when you get used to it. With many shortcuts, mouse gestures and a clean interface, it's much faster to use than Firefox which has a bit clumsy and slow to use UI.

Despite having Firefox as a big competitor, at least when considering how much market share it has recently gained, some say that Opera should concentrate on competing with Internet Explorer instead. This is because Internet Explorer still has a very high market share but it has a lot of security vulnerabilities, and if Opera aimed their marketing towards Internet Explorer users it would lose more market share than with just Firefox doing that. Internet Explorer losing market share should in theory reduce the amount of Windows based PC's getting infected with malware through websites.

Safari has also been lately gaining some share. I've used Safari myself a bit but I haven't been impressed. It's about as good as Firefox to me. The fact that Safari, which is the default browser in Mac, has been getting more popular is probably due to the fact that Mac's in general have been getting more popular due to Apple's successes with iPod, iPhone and to some extent with their laptops. One reason I've heard from Mac users why they prefer Safari is because it has the same look and feel as Mac OS. Opera does not use the native buttons and things from the operating system, so to some it might not feel like a part of it. Some Internet Explorer users have also said the same - they use IE because it looks and feels the same as Windows.


Personally I don't mind which browser you use. I am an Opera advocate though, so I will try to guide people away from other browsers to Opera, especially Internet Explorer. I think that Opera is simply the most painless browser to use - easy to use, fastest and safest. What would be intresting, though, would be to know whether the people who visit my blog considered trying Opera.