Monday, January 28, 2008

Opera Rocks!

Honestly, I usually never think about what browser I am using. Whatever is available (Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.) becomes my direct line to the web. But, this week I had the chance to compare different browsers and I found some interesting things. I love Opera! (La Boheme, The Magic Flute, Wozzeck AND the Internet browser!)

Opera has several cool features:
*'speed dial' - a page where you can place links to your top 9 web pages
*an easy to find search box at the top of the page to find text on any webpage
*a widget manager - you can download widgets featuring games like sudoku and tetris, radio stations, international clocks, news feeds and more
I like these features, but it is also easy to navigate and visually engaging. It seemed a little slower than Safari, but not intolerable.

Camino is also a browser that I had never checked out before. I like Camino's bookmark bar which allows you to save folders and not just single pages to the bar. It also has preset folders containing links to popular news pages, like CNN, and it has a Mac news folder which provides access to several Mac pages.

I also checked out Mozilla, Internet Explorer and Safari from this perspective. I think Safari is the fastest browser and I am presently partial to it because I have my history of favorite pages and extensive bookmark lists there. I didn't really find too much in Mozilla and Internet Explorer that makes me want to use those sites more. 

But, I will definitely be diversifying my browser use after this experiement. I am excited to 
utilize features in Opera, Camino and Safari to my advantage. And, I am looking forward to this 
CAI class and to the new perspectives I will discover regarding technology!