Opera

by: Chris Page on February 26, 2014

With its long history, Opera for Mac stands as one of the most popular Web browsers in the world. Despite its age, this free product has been constantly updated and optimized to run smoothly and keep feature parity with the rest of the competition. What set the app apart from other browsers are the handy mouse gestures, the Off Road mode that uses less traffic, and the handy news aggregator.

When opened, Opera for Mac presents you with its Speed Dial interface where you can pin your most used sites, set the number of columns, and group sites in folders. While browsing, you have the ability to send sites to the Speed Dial as well as the Stash via an address bar button. The Stash is the app's version of a reading list -- it saves articles for offline viewing and can be accessed in a new tab. Two nice features are the Off Road mode, which compresses the data you receive, saving traffic but reducing security, and mouse gestures for effortless browsing. The app supports plenty of themes and extensions that are available online for free. By registering for a free Opera account, you can sync browser settings across devices.

If you're looking for a fast and reliable browser, you won't be disappointed by Opera for Mac. It stands out when it comes to data compression and gesture support, as well as content discovery. You'll especially like the Discover section, available in new tabs, which lets you browse stories by subject and location, making your browsing experience more enjoyable.

From Opera Software:

Opera is a free and innovative web browser which allows you to experience the web on your terms. Discover what over 40 million people have already experienced by downloading Opera's fast and safe Internet browsers. Opera 17 combines elegant design, smart updates to some of our most popular features and new ways to customize Opera to your preferences.

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3.3 out of 137 votes

5 star: 48 4 star: 28 3 star: 13 2 star: 14 1 star: 34 Current Version:

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Write review 1 stars

""Stability Enhancements"..... NOT!"

June 03, 2014   |   By stevencee

Version: Opera 22.0.1471.50

Pros

When it works, it's pretty fast

Cons

Completely UNSTABLE! Worked pretty well until the newest update, now it can't open pages, or they are partially open, or they open, then close, even their own Preference & Plug-In pages!

I've wasted the last hour trying to get it to just open pages & windows or to keep them open, without crashing constantly. I wish I could just go back to the previous version. There's no excuse for companies to release "Updates" that end up tanking the whole program!

Summary

Get it together Opera developers BEFORE you unleash updates on us.....

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3 stars

"Opera web browser"

April 15, 2014

Version: Opera 20.0.1387.91

Pros

It does allow me to log in on aarp's web site and will actually let me play games. Safari has problems with even finding aarp.org. Or when it does and I try to log in, it loses the server again. Firefox will find the site; but, won't complete the logging in process. So, Opera is really good for allowing me to log in to aarp.

Cons

My favorite search engine is ask.com. Opera will allow me to add ask.com to the list of search engines; but, it won't let me move it up to be one of the defaults. Firefox has always allowed me to add search engines and make any one of them the default.
Tabs would take some getting used to. I'm used to having links open in the same window or a different window.
I prefer a bookmarks list from a drop down menu like Safari and Firefox have. It appears that Opera uses a bookmarks bar, like browsers on PCs have. I haven't actually tried to bookmark anything let.

Summary

I may hang on the Opera browser just so I can use aarp. But, I'm not likely to make it my default browser. There's still a lot that I have to learn before I can absolutely say that I like it or I don't like it.

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4 stars

"AN excellent browser"

April 06, 2014   |   By cydcharisse

Version: Opera 20.0.1387.82

Pros

On my imac its rendering pages faster than Safari, Chrome or Firefox. Unlike some reviews here I'm having zero problems with freezing, downloading or improper rendering. I enjoy using this.

Cons

Doesn't have a bookmark manager, which will make this a no-go for some users.

Summary

Excellent browser. Glad I gave it a try.

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1 stars

"Couldn't transfer bookmarks from Chrome"

March 02, 2014   |   By eob--2008

Version: Opera 19.0.1326.63

Pros

I had used an older version while back and remembered liking it, so when Chrome was giving me trouble I thought of Opera. Downloaded the current version here.

Cons

2/23/14 - got latest version here, couldn't import bookmarks from Chrome, the help to tell how to do this specified "File > IImport/export" but that was not in my version!
No help number or forum! Deleted this one and an older version.
Eventually settled on Torch - a lot like Chrome, but without the bugs I've been having with Chrome.

Summary

I didn't really give it a fair test, I guess.

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1 stars

"Three-letter 10-character minimum: POS"

July 23, 2013   |   By MacGuffin

Version: Opera 15.0.1147.132

Pros

Developer keep "updating" it, so it's assumed it's secure.

Cons

The "One-line summary" about nails it.

Summary

I should've realized that anything lauded by Seth "I get paid by the word" Rosenblatt had to suck. Camino was dropped by its developers and is no longer secure, hence I had to seek a non-Chrome (which I hate) alternative for one e-mail address. Enter Opera. It's ugly (think the worst of 90's interface combined with generic supermarket labels), it's archaic, it doesn't know how to auto-complete e-mail addresses, and to add insult to injury, it freezes, necessitating a force quit. THIS is the browser that should have been abandoned, not Camino (which, unfortunately, had been dying a slow death for a number of years). Browsing with Opera is an exercise in futility. One wishes the fat lady would sing already.

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5 stars

"Should be #2 in browsers"

March 01, 2013   |   By Paul McNulty

Version: Opera 12.14

Pros

Does everything other browsers do, BUT better.

Cons

Unfortunately it is not recognized by many app downloaders

Summary

If it was accepted more it would give Chrome/Firefox a run for the money. A great browser.

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1 stars

"not displaying web pages"

July 25, 2012   |   By laago

Version: Opera 12.00

Pros

none, I've tried 3 different versions over the years

Cons

like other reviewers I can't get web pages to display correctly so renders it useless.
This has happened for the past 3 years...........not good enough

Summary

try SWR iron

Chrome + security!

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5 stars

"The Best!!
The Best!!"

February 16, 2012   |   By muneer_ha

Version: Opera 11.61

Pros

everything!!!

Cons

nothing!!!

Summary

The best

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1 stars

"It doesn't display the web pages correctly."

February 03, 2012   |   By FriskyKid

Version: Opera 11.61

Pros

Nothing I can think of.

Cons

It doesn't display the web pages correctly. For sample in my.yahoo.com. And a sign up page for Yahoo is not displaying correctly either. Something missing?? Flash??

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3 stars

"Deal-breaking flaw: no 1Password support"

January 24, 2012   |   By gbdoc

Version: Opera 11.61

Pros

Great browser, ....

Cons

.... but the 1Password extension is indispensable, so the lack of it in Opera is a deal-breaker. Since Opera does use extensions, perhaps they'd make this possible some day, when I'd love to use it. In the meantime, Safari, Chrome, and Firefox are all pretty good, too.

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