Opera Browser

  • Thread starter Thread starter UM
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U

UM

Today I tried the Opera Web browser, and I must say
I'm fully convinced and have switched from IE to Opera.

In IE (and OE, and nearly all "software" of Microsoft)
nearly every click on any link starts some external plugins/
DLLs/OCX etc. etc. to collect data, and which nowadays
have become the most dangerous things for virus
installations/distributions and spyware backdoors.
My concern was especially the security issues plus privacy.
It is a shameful practice by some (too many!) companies
on the net to collect horrible sum of data from each
surfer secretly and hiddenly by the above mentioned
methods. I've analyzed what network traffic and program
modules each click on a web page (even locally stored
HTMLs! ) hiddenly do. You won't believe it if you haven't
analyzed it yourself! I can only say: be very very cautious
when you click on any link in this WWW jungle of nowadys!

In Opera these threats are minimal as far as I could see it;
I guess maybe 1% compared to Microsoft's IE.

Regarding privacy: just read Opera's privacy policy plus
their partner's Google's; they are fair and user friendly.

BTW, Opera is an example for a modern software: everything
is flexible, resizeable, individually configurable, modular, ...

And, I'm planning also to replace my Win2K with Linux.
BTW, I'm "Microsoft Certified System Egineer" :-), so I
really know of what I'm talking of... :-)

UM
 
520001085531-0001@t- said:
In Opera these threats are minimal as far as I could see it;
I guess maybe 1% compared to Microsoft's IE.
Click to expand...

These threats are minimal, only if you don't use the added functionality
that is provided with IE as a client for applications. Opera is not a
replacement for IE, but for people that only play on the web, it does
well most of the time.
BTW, Opera is an example for a modern software: everything
is flexible, resizeable, individually configurable, modular, ...

And, I'm planning also to replace my Win2K with Linux.
BTW, I'm "Microsoft Certified System Egineer" :-), so I
really know of what I'm talking of... :-)
Click to expand...

If you were a MCSE you would not be trolling like this. Each browser has
it's purpose, as does each OS. Some shops will want IE since it allows
perfect integration with OWA and other custom apps they've built on .Net
servers. Some shops don't care and have the staff to support mixed
platforms.

What people, and designers (even MCSE's) have to learn is that there is
no "one best" solution for every installation. Sometimes it's related to
ROI, sometimes it's related to comfort, sometimes it's related to
marketing hype. In a few cases, a OS and platform as selected based on
the actual customer needs an impact on the customer.

As an example, for businesses, I would never install Linux on the
desktop, but servers, most of them, could be Linux based.

For home users, the non-MCSE ones, I would never install Linux. Most
people, home users, are not technical enough to be productive with a
linux install, and most of them have already started on the MS platform.
For the technical home user I would suggest dual systems - one MS XP
Prof and one RH 9, to give them the best of both worlds.
 
The last time I used IE I had to crash out of it when I discovered
it was downloading some plug-in without my permission. That
is totally unacceptable. IE remains installed on my machine,
but seldom clicked!
Click to expand...

You can disable all of those Nasty things and run in secure mode when
playing around on the web, and then put the sites you trust in the
Trusted Zone and you get full use of IE without the headaches when on
play/spam sites.
 
UM said:
Today I tried the Opera Web browser, and I must say
I'm fully convinced and have switched from IE to Opera.

In IE (and OE, and nearly all "software" of Microsoft)
nearly every click on any link starts some external plugins/
DLLs/OCX etc. etc. to collect data, and which nowadays
have become the most dangerous things for virus
installations/distributions and spyware backdoors.
My concern was especially the security issues plus privacy.
It is a shameful practice by some (too many!) companies
on the net to collect horrible sum of data from each
surfer secretly and hiddenly by the above mentioned
methods. I've analyzed what network traffic and program
modules each click on a web page (even locally stored
HTMLs! ) hiddenly do. You won't believe it if you haven't
analyzed it yourself! I can only say: be very very cautious
when you click on any link in this WWW jungle of nowadys!

In Opera these threats are minimal as far as I could see it;
I guess maybe 1% compared to Microsoft's IE.

Regarding privacy: just read Opera's privacy policy plus
their partner's Google's; they are fair and user friendly.

BTW, Opera is an example for a modern software: everything
is flexible, resizeable, individually configurable, modular, ...

And, I'm planning also to replace my Win2K with Linux.
BTW, I'm "Microsoft Certified System Egineer" :-), so I
really know of what I'm talking of... :-)

UM
Click to expand...

Go here and run all tests... http://bcheck.scanit.be

Opera fails some of the security tests.. Mozilla or the newly named
Firefox would probably be a better choice...
 
Today I tried the Opera Web browser, and I must say
I'm fully convinced and have switched from IE to Opera.
Click to expand...
Before you totally abandon IE, you should know that there are
quite a few web sites out there that will only run properly on
IE. Opera will occasionally object, usually by freezing up, so
if you want to see that web site you MUST use IE. My
policy nowadays is to stay away from IE-only sites unless
there is no other choice.

Most government / university / travel websites work fine on Opera,
it's only the heavily commercial sites with lots of flashy
whizz-bangs that spook Opera.

The last time I used IE I had to crash out of it when I discovered
it was downloading some plug-in without my permission. That
is totally unacceptable. IE remains installed on my machine,
but seldom clicked!

Z
 
UM said:
Today I tried the Opera Web browser, and I must say
I'm fully convinced and have switched from IE to Opera.
Click to expand...


I checked your headers
you're not using Opera
 
[snip]
And, I'm planning also to replace my Win2K with Linux.
BTW, I'm "Microsoft Certified System Egineer" :-), so I
really know of what I'm talking of... :-)
Click to expand...

Another Microsoft Certified System egg-in-ear. ;o)

Why don't you go dual boot? W2K is imo the best
OS to ever come from Microsoft.

....maybe that's not saying much, but Linux can co-exist with
other OSes - so why not.
 
UM said in alt.privacy.spyware...
Today I tried the Opera Web browser, and I must say
I'm fully convinced and have switched from IE to Opera.

In IE (and OE, and nearly all "software" of Microsoft)
nearly every click on any link starts some external plugins/
DLLs/OCX etc. etc. to collect data, and which nowadays
have become the most dangerous things for virus
installations/distributions and spyware backdoors.
My concern was especially the security issues plus privacy.
It is a shameful practice by some (too many!) companies
on the net to collect horrible sum of data from each
surfer secretly and hiddenly by the above mentioned
methods. I've analyzed what network traffic and program
modules each click on a web page (even locally stored
HTMLs! ) hiddenly do. You won't believe it if you haven't
analyzed it yourself! I can only say: be very very cautious
when you click on any link in this WWW jungle of nowadys!

In Opera these threats are minimal as far as I could see it;
I guess maybe 1% compared to Microsoft's IE.

Regarding privacy: just read Opera's privacy policy plus
their partner's Google's; they are fair and user friendly.

BTW, Opera is an example for a modern software: everything
is flexible, resizeable, individually configurable, modular, ...
Click to expand...

Tried Mozilla Firebird? It offers the security advantages you mentioned
above and it's free. I used Opera on and off for years (versions 2.x
through 7.x) but finally abandoned it a few months ago when Firebird
became sufficiently stable to use in the real world.

Also, Opera 7 seemed to have a memory leak. After a couple of hours of
continuous use it ate up all available memory and crashed.

If Opera were released in a free 'light' version without the pathetic
mail and news clients & Java I might look at it again.
 
Leythos said:
You can disable all of those Nasty things and run in secure mode when
playing around on the web, and then put the sites you trust in the
Trusted Zone and you get full use of IE without the headaches when on
play/spam sites.
Click to expand...

It is not the point. The point is security and what gets collected
and sent to outside and v.v. hiddenly without your permission
and knowledge. It is espionage what these gangsters are doing.
The justice and the lawmakers seem too sleep.

My practical advice to you is: just do it yourself and analyze
the result for example with a good personal firewall software
or packet capture tool. You will be surprized what traffic is
generated, which sites are contacted (besides DNS), and
which data is collected with _EACH CLICK_ on a link (either
left or right click). Simply said: every click you do is recorded
and sent to some collecting sites. Don't get me wrong: it is
not simply the link adress what they collect, your environment
and personal data gets sent out too, and data put on your
machine, useful (of course for them), and unuseful things like
viruses, trojans, spyware etc.! This all happens just between
the click and right before the new page gets displayed.
Then you will also understand why the World Wide Wait Web
has become so slow... :-)

Using IE (and generally all MS Web applications) is the
highest security risk on net one can ever imagine. Trust me!

The best would be going back to Gopher :-)

UM
 
UM said in alt.privacy.spyware...
Sure I do use the Opera Browser. But you mean Mail and News,
yes this I'm going to switch too.
Click to expand...

Nothing but frustration there. The mail/news stuff in Opera sucks.

Calypso or Pegasus for mail - Gravity for Usenet. All free.
 
UM said:
Sure I do use the Opera Browser. But you mean Mail and News,
yes this I'm going to switch too.
Click to expand...
I use to use Opera. then went back to IE. If you intend to use to email News
options in Opera and you've been using Microsoft email/news products; be
ready for a long learning curve.

Another major thing (which I don't like) are thing like anti spam and anti
virus software. Most work fine with Microsoft products i.e. Outlook, ect,
etc.

Make sure any anti virus packages you use for your current email program
will work with Opera and it's M2 mail system.

I was determined to like and use Opera and gave it a good long try, but the
lack of support and availability of third party products for it drove me
back to IE, Outlook ,etc

Clive
 
On Tue, 10 Feb 2004 00:32:50 +0100, "UM"

And, I'm planning also to replace my Win2K with Linux.
BTW, I'm "Microsoft Certified System Egineer" :-), so I
really know of what I'm talking of... :-)
Click to expand...

Really?

That's funny, because most (but not all) MCSE's I've come across don't
know shit. :-)

Dazz
 
Clive said:
I use to use Opera. then went back to IE. If you intend to use to email News
options in Opera and you've been using Microsoft email/news products; be
ready for a long learning curve.

Another major thing (which I don't like) are thing like anti spam and anti
virus software. Most work fine with Microsoft products i.e. Outlook, ect,
etc.

Make sure any anti virus packages you use for your current email program
will work with Opera and it's M2 mail system.

I was determined to like and use Opera and gave it a good long try, but the
lack of support and availability of third party products for it drove me
back to IE, Outlook ,etc

Clive
Click to expand...
Another thing I forgot, if you use any online banking then check Opera, or
any other browser will work. I tried Mozill 1.6 and it isn't supported by my
bank

CLive
 
You can disable all of those Nasty things and run in secure mode when
playing around on the web, and then put the sites you trust in the
Trusted Zone and you get full use of IE without the headaches when on
play/spam sites.
Click to expand...


The trusted zone list asks for https\www. If I surf over the the same site
and it has http\www am I in the trusted zone?
 
Yo, Dazz,

Couldn't agree more. MCSE is like any certification or diploma...you can
get one by memorization, but if you really want to know what you're doing
you've got to actually WORK in the real world. All the certifications in
the world can't compare to 30 years in the industry.
 
The trusted zone list asks for https\www. If I surf over the the same site
and it has http\www am I in the trusted zone?
Click to expand...

If you uncheck the ensure SSL or certificate or something (lower left
corner) it will allow you to use standard HTTP sites just fine. Just
make sure that you are only entering sites that you should be trusting
or you are going to be much worse off than before.
 
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