Firefox vs. Opera

[nilsA]

Firefox just will not open - version 2 or 3 - just bumping the icon for some seconds, and dies. Remove, reinstall, no wway.


So I found Opera for Gutsy. The last time I tried Opera it was so overloaded with functions I never needed, so I gave it up.

Now it looks very nice, clean, and so far it seems quicker than Firefox. Maybe it handles muliple windows better? The KDE Wallet works also.

[Bondi007]

In my opinion Firefox Rules! and I tried opera but I don't like the feel of it :)

[BoeBoe]

Installing Firefox from package manager should be smooth in my experience.

Both Firefox and Opera has their pro and cons. In my testing, I noticed browsing with Opera is faster than Firefox. Opera's interface is cleaner and more elegant too.

However I just don't know why I'm reverting back to Firefox. My Opera is now sitting like a duck, just in case I missed it later :)

[musta ruhtinas]

from a long time opera user: it's a great browser, very fast, but to me firefox handles plugin content better and is a bit more stable. it is however easier on the resources (only on rare occasions the pluginwrapper or plugincleaner go mad and cause serious cpu spikes)

to solve your firefox problem: type in a console firefox (or firefox-2) and look at the error messages displayed

[nem]

from a long time opera user: it's a great browser, very fast, but to me firefox handles plugin content better and is a bit more stable. it is however easier on the resources (only on rare occasions the pluginwrapper or plugincleaner go mad and cause serious cpu spikes)

Just to get this straight: in your opinion Firefox is easier on the resources than Opera?

[kortsen]

In my opinion Firefox Rules! and I tried opera but I don't like the feel of it :)


I have used both side-by-side even before I switched from XP to Kubuntu. I like the look and feel of Opera over Firefox or IE. But Firefox wins the the standards war. There are still banking and investment sites I use that will only work on IE5=> and Firefox 1.5=> so my everyday browser is Opera and my backup is Firefox.

This being said, if you prefer the look and feel of Firefox over Opera then Firefox will do everything you need it to do. Unfortunately for me, I prefer Opera even though I need to keep Firefox in the bullpen.

[nilsA]

to solve your firefox problem: type in a console firefox (or firefox-2) and look at the error messages displayed





Not much:


nils1@nils1-desktop:~$ firefox
nils1@nils1-desktop:~$

???

[nilsA]

In my opinion Firefox Rules! and I tried opera but I don't like the feel of it :)


It's been many years since I tried Opera. Back then it was cluttered with all kinds of things I did not like. Today - I might be one of those using differnt for different things. At the moment, well I like Opera better than Konqueror, anyway. But the equivalent for plug-ins seems very different from what I use. Maybe I will find what I am looking for, thogh.

[monte48lowes]

I am a long time Opera user as well. There are times when I have to use one of the other browsers though. For example, with zero configuration konqueror is able to display web videos that are windows media based or quicktime based. Firefox works better with some webpages. So there are times when I pull one of the other browsers out of the toolbox.

Here's where I differ from some on using Opera and why I continue to use it despite these annoyances. I don't blame Opera for a webpage not displaying correctly. Nor do I blame Opera for a web developer choosing to use a proprietary format for the video content. I, for the most part, hold those who are writing the webpages accountable. Opera, in my opinion, handles the standards better, with faster speeds at the same time.

Mike

(Full disclosure: I actually purchased a license for Opera 6.0)

[kortsen]

STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!!!!!!!

I got curious and did some Googling after my post above. I was intrigued by IceWeasel and SwiftWeasel. I was impressed by the idea of SwiftWeasel: a processor-optimized Mozilla-based browser. I just had to try it, so I used the instructions at http://swiftweasel.tuxfamily.org/wiki/index.php5?title=Apt to add the repository and installed the version for my P3M. My first impression is that it is a lot faster than Firefox or Opera. Plus it solved an ongoing problem I had with the Flash plug-in that I never solved in Opera or Firefox.

We shall see what the long term results are, but if you are considering Firefox give it a try.

And if you are already using Firefox you should think about trying it. You will be pleased to know it automatically recognizes (at least in my case) all your existing bookmarks and plugins.

[RJ Hythloday]

STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!!!!!!!

I got curious and did some Googling after my post above. I was intrigued by IceWeasel and SwiftWeasel. I was impressed by the idea of SwiftWeasel: a processor-optimized Mozilla-based browser. I just had to try it, so I used the instructions at http://swiftweasel.tuxfamily.org/wiki/index.php5?title=Apt to add the repository and installed the version for my P3M. My first impression is that it is a lot faster than Firefox or Opera. Plus it solved an ongoing problem I had with the Flash plug-in that I never solved in Opera or Firefox.

We shall see what the long term results are, but if you are considering Firefox give it a try.

And if you are already using Firefox you should think about trying it. You will be pleased to know it automatically recognizes (at least in my case) all your existing bookmarks and plugins.


yeah, but does it support firefox plugins? I need foxmarks! I might be installing it on a 900mhz 512ram edubuntu build for a friends kid though. Does it work on all the sites firefox does>?, w/ flash etc.

[Fintan]

Just for comarison sake have a look here:
http://cybernetnews.com/2008/02/25/firefox-3-performance-gets-a-boost/

Test your browsers :D

By the way Konqueror will crash with this test so leave that alone.

@Korsten:
Which line did you put into your sources.lst?
This does not work:
deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/swiftweasel gutsy multiverse

nor this:
deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/swiftweasel/ gutsy multiverse

nor this:
deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/swiftweasel/ubuntu gutsy multiverse

??? ???

[kortsen]

Which line did you put into your sources.lst?
This deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/swiftweasel gutsy multiverse does not work:

??? ???


That is exactly what I added to Synaptic and it worked for me. ??? ??? ???



yeah, but does it support firefox plugins? I need foxmarks! I might be installing it on a 900mhz 512ram edubuntu build for a friends kid though. Does it work on all the sites firefox does>?, w/ flash etc.


It claims to support all the plug-ins. I haven't tested it thoroughly yet. It does work on every site I have tried so far. And as mentioned above, Flash works for me now, which didn't work in Firefox or Opera.

[musta ruhtinas]

Just to get this straight: in your opinion Firefox is easier on the resources than Opera?


oops, sorry; i meant opera is easier on resources

@nilsA: strange thing, no output at all

hmm, guess i'll give swiftweasel a try as well

[Fintan]

Sorry that was a type on my part :o :(

deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/swiftweasel gutsy multiverse
works sort of.
It gives me swiftdove (thunderbird) in GG. :P :P ::)

I'll try it in HH and see what happens there, but it shouldn't change anything. This is a GG repo.

Edit: Yep I am getting swiftdove in HH as well. ??? ??? ???

[musta ruhtinas]

i manually installed the gutsy 2.0.0.12 version and no troubles so far
very nice, actually

[Fintan]

I had to install the deb version on GG as my gdebi in HH is borked for now.
Just for the fun of it I did the above benchmark test on my GG system:
Siftweasel: 28'133ms

FF2: 30'185ms

FF33.03bpre: 17'957ms

[jwhibdon]

I am running the X86-64 HH with swiftweasel32 I installed using the script found here

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=202537

I added the repo for updates all works great

deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/swiftweasel gutsy multiverse

I have been a long Opera user (several years) but when I moved to linux I was not able to get Opera the play the talking cowboys or coach interviews from dallascowboys.com This I MUST have. I spent several days working with Opera tech support no help. I started looking around with no joy until I found swiftweasel and the script. I ran the script let it instill flash and mplayer and all works well. I thought I would use it for this one thing but now tend to use it most of the time. Firefox will not work reguardless how I install it. SW works great in KDE4 as well.

[kortsen]

deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/swiftweasel gutsy multiverse
works sort of.
It gives me swiftdove (thunderbird) in GG. :P :P ::)


Yep. They just uploaded an update to Swiftdove (2.0.0.12-2) and pantsed the repo. Swiftweasel is MIA. I left a message on their forums and will let you know what I find out.

[Fintan]

Thanks for the info, I got the deb installed okay but the repos would be nice ;)

[kortsen]

The repos are back.

[Fintan]

Thank you Korsten:
Just to be Complete:

Here are my benchmarks for HH:
FF2: 31'315ms

Siftweasel: 25'165ms

FF3 3.0b3: 15'875ms

I tried Opera 9.25 from the repos but it only finished 95% of the benchmark.

It is quick to start though :)

[nilsA]

Thank you Korsten:
Just to be Complete:

Here are my benchmarks for HH:
FF2: 31'315ms

Siftweasel: 25'165ms

FF3 3.0b3: 15'875ms

I tried Opera 9.25 from the repos but it only finished 95% of the benchmark.

It is quick to start though :)


How many tabs did you have open? I've found that Firefox can be very sluggish when many tabs are openj. And, as I write three languages on the PC, with many tabs the auto-recongition of languages when typing is worse than useless. The other thing I have found so far, is that the "weidgets" does not integrate like into Firefox, but gets into free floating windows. Part - it's annoying, but the good thing is that it is very simple to turn on and off.

And one widget is very much better than the corresponding in Firefox: "Touch the Sky" do tell and forecast the local weather rather good; while Forecast ox (Enhanced) is so way off that I have to look out of the window to know ::)

Now to the speed test - 5 tabs open:

Opera: 46'315.8ms

Konqueror: [edit - added] 262'952.2ms

And I downloaded the .deb package from Opera. Did install and runs just fine.

[jwhibdon]

You should try Swiftweasels Trunk version it is based on ff 3.0b

[RJ Hythloday]

You should try Swiftweasels Trunk version it is based on ff 3.0b
Is it also beta? I'm building a minimal buntu for a friends kid w/ a 900mhz cpu and 512 ram, so I'm looking for optimal light weight apps.

[Fintan]

How many tabs did you have open?

Just one. It is obvious that more tabs and depending on their content are going to slow things down in FF.

That is strange because they are both powered by accweather. I'll give it a try and see what the diff. is.

@RJ:

Is it also beta?
The long answer?
Yes.
As long as FF3 is still beta, all derviates from it will be beta

[nilsA]

How many tabs did you have open?


That is strange because they are both powered by accweather. I'll give it a try and see what the diff. is.



Maybe Opera get the better data because I live only 35 minutes away from where it was developed. ;) (Opera, that is.)

[Fintan]

I like in Interlaken, Switzerland. Acuuweather gets its gata from Belp (which is the closest airport).
The opera version looks sweet but gives me the same data as forecast enhanced.

Forecast is always visable.

I will be playing with opera over the WE. ;) :)

[RJ Hythloday]

Sorry that was a type on my part :o :(

deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/swiftweasel gutsy multiverse
works sort of.
It gives me swiftdove (thunderbird) in GG. :P :P ::)

I'll try it in HH and see what happens there, but it shouldn't change anything. This is a GG repo.

Edit: Yep I am getting swiftdove in HH as well. ??? ??? ???
do you mean to say you can get swift dove, but not swift weasel?

[Fintan]

The repos have been updated since so now I have both :)

[RJ Hythloday]

The repos have been updated since so now I have both :)
Good to know, I plan on giving it a try soon. What do you think so far?

[nilsA]

I like in Interlaken, Switzerland. Acuuweather gets its gata from Belp (which is the closest airport).
The opera version looks sweet but gives me the same data as forecast enhanced.

Forecast is always visable.

I will be playing with opera over the WE. ;) :)


My Weekend experiments has shown something interesting.

1. The present (today) weather is reasonably correct now.
2. I can opt for one of three airports, so I can use them to get an approximation. They all are what is to be expected as to where they are situated relative to where I live.
3. The really strange thing is: When I look at the one week forecast - the Drammen (my home) forecast is warmer than any of the three for the local airports.

[Fintan]

Good to know, I plan on giving it a try soon. What do you think so far?

I like it. The speed difference is there and it solves my agro with HH replacing FF2 with FF3 without asking:)


3. The really strange thing is: When I look at the one week forecast - the Drammen (my home) forecast is warmer than any of the three for the local airports.

That just proves an old adage:
Look out the window before trusting a computer :P ;D

[kortsen]

You should try Swiftweasels Trunk version it is based on ff 3.0b


I have only been using Swiftweasel for a week. I am so impressed that I'm torn over that question. The current version is so danged good that I'm leary of going beta. When FF3 goes gold I'll definitely upgrade.