[IMAGE]

Opera

I hear people saying that Firefox is better than Opera, and all that poo, well what's it got that Opera doesn't have, if not more. click here to see Opera's features, or you can view the [url="http://www.opera.com/features/tour/">Tour which shows Opera's main features. If you'd have Opera, you could press F11 and view it as a PowerPoint show. For those who don't just click Table of contents and then scroll through it by pressing next. The tour only shows some of it's features though.

Anyways, as you can see it has a [:-censored] load of features. IRC compatibility; You can visit Soldat Channels via Opera, click here to see a screenshot. Mail filtering; You can have your mail filtered through Opera, and it's stored on your hard drive. 1Gb with Gmail, pfff, with Opera you've got all the space on your hard drive. These are just to name a few.


I also read how to install new skins/themes for Firefox, a [:-censored]ing nightmare! With Opera you just select the skin you want to download, it downloads it, takes about 2 seconds, then it automatically switches to that skin and asks you if you want to keep it or not. There are loads of really good skins, although the standard one is my favourite. Also, before you start complaining about Opera being cluttered, you can customize it, just look at this screenshot. I've just customised mine to the way I like it.

I'd write more, but I'm too tired. Just try Opera. It might take a bit (1 day) to get used to Opera, and all the features, but once you do, you'll love it.

If you need any help, feel free to PM me, or ask me over MSN. Or, you can ask at the Opera Forums, they are very friendly (no, not in that way), and are always willing to help :)

I gotta admit, this is more than just a browser. Internet Explorer doesn't even compete with Firefox, and it's pretty much invisible next to Opera. You can use IRC straight from the browser without using an extra window, and the same goes for mail. You can also check multiple mail accounts at once. It's really useful. ^_^ Also, another thing I really like is the Transfer page. It keeps track of all your downloads just like Kazaa does.

P.S. - PSST! Hitman converted meh!

i like IE...

I bet you like Pokemon, too. :P

I'll give firefox a shot when I get my comp fixed. Allthough I dont really need any special features exept google toolbar :P

Opera just has too much fat on it.

Opera stopped working for me the other day. I will try fire fox

fire fox is mean as

like Bman sed

opera has too much fat on it

Opera's good. I like it better than firefox (or any other browser for that matter). It needs better pdf support though.

Hmmmm
The main reason I did not use Opera was because it was figging annoying. I dislike having the tabs at left , ocuppying a lot of space and giving no info, pages rendered incorrectly at full display mode(because the normal mode wastes the whole screen with toolbars) and it crashed a lot. But it seems that with the new version you can put tabs at top. I will give it a try to the new version.
When had 7.51 appeared??? I looked the releases notes and it goes from 7.23 to 7.50 beta. These are the type of things that make Opera annoying

opera 7.51 is the best version so far and i find the tabs to be a godsend. i hate having a too many browser windows open, but with opera its like all in one window its great. you can close pages just by holding shift and clicking the tab as well. ive been using opera since version 3 and highly recommend it.

chakra: you dont have to use the extra features if you dont want to, its not like they take up room. i dont use the irc, mail or news features at all but still think its a good browser.

Now, see, Opera is really nice, but all I want to do is browse websites. All the other [:-censored] on Opera is like all the crap I never use on my mobile phone: calander, calculator, stopwatch, thermometer, laser, jetpack, etc... I don't care. Just wanna see websites.

I'd use IE if I could be bothered to reinstall it.

IE FOREVER!

Yay i just want my browser to show websites. I dont need crap like irc compatible chat e-mail or other crap.

I am done with opera. It crashes whenever I try to make it default explorer, it is still unable to show pages properly in f11 display and I am unable to login in soldatforum... I was able to do it with the previous version ffs!

One mistake in this comparison:

If you want to compare Opera + extra features like IRC etc. with a Mozilla product, then compare it to the Mozilla suite. Firefox is intent to be a browser only, and thats exactly what it is.

This is a bit like the discussions "Win vs Linux"..

Firefox is a completely free light-weight browser with many plugins (not pre-installed) and skin-ability. You can leave it as it is and you still have a pretty powerful browser.
Opera shows ads if you don't pay for it, so that's a pretty big drawback if you want to keep it legal :)
It uses lots of resources, but then again.. it's really fast.
To Chakra: nobody forces you to use the contacts, IRC client etc. you can just remove it from the tab and forget about it.

MS Internet Explorer is just so extremely simple, yet it has lots of security holes.

blah blah. Everybody should try a few of the "big" browsers out there and decide for themselves.
If you REALLY want to stick with MS IE, try "MyIE2". It's another front-end for the MS IE engine. It's pretty similar to Firefox (tabbed-browsing, built-in popup filter, mouse gestures), but it still uses the unsecure MS IE engine.
So if you like the MyIE2 interface, give Firefox a try.

quote:Originally posted by palloco
I am done with opera. It crashes whenever I try to make it default explorer, it is still unable to show pages properly in f11 display and I am unable to login in soldatforum... I was able to do it with the previous version ffs!


sounds like maybe a problem with your comp man. both the default browser thing and soldat forum works fine for me. dunno bout the fullscreen because i dont use it much.

i have to be honest opera did used to crash randomly sometimes before version 7 but now its at least as stable as (and faster than) IE. there is the problem of having to pay unless you feel that you shouldnt have to (pay for soldat tho :P).

by the way im not saying firefox is a bad browser either and id use it if opera wasnt around. unfortunatly some sites (why?) just dont work on browsers other than IE, but thats not very often. its not like you can get rid of IE easily now its embedded in windows anyway, so itll always be there if you need it [:P].

Too true, I don't have to use the extra features. And even without them, Opera is a pretty damn good browser that usually minimises any popups and can load multiple websites in a single window. Fairly handy.

Still, it's really a browser for those kind of people that like to make browsing a very efficient experience. I'd use IE 'cos it's a little quicker, if it didn't get totally fuked over by spyware. When I removed it all it took IE with it...

im just gonna stick with IE

as chak said before i know i wont be using any of the features in Opera, so why go to the trouble of downloading it, and then getting rid of all the tabs that i dont use, just to get something pretty damn similar to IE except with a different name?

I use Opera because it was the first thing I downloaded when my IE f*cked up. Simple as.

Hi! I am back here to fight for Opera! RSS Opera feature) [img]http://my.opera.com/forums/images/smilies/wink.gif" style="color: blue;">[IMAGE]

Actually it was me who converted Hitman [:D] ...if I remember correctly.

Thirst of all, I would like to say that in my opinion the title of the thread is wrong. It should be "Opera and Firefox vs IE", because both Opera and FireFox are good choice. IE is bad.

Why?

1. Both Opera and FireFox are modern.
IE is about 3 years old. For internet technology it's like 3 hundred years.

2. Both Opera and FireFox are secure.
IE has over 20 known, yet not patched security holes.

3. Both Opera and FireFox follow new internet standards (CSS, XHTML, PNG images).
IE brake / does not support the modern internet standards.

4. Both Opera and FireFox can stop ads.
IE can't do this.

5. Both Opera and FireFox are highly customizable.
People have different needs. But not in IE.

6. Both Opera and FireFox are OS independent.
You will need Longhorn to upgrade IE. Better start to save your money. Or change the browser.

7. Both Opera and FireFox are fast.
IE load pages slower and takes about 10x more space on my HD.

8. Both Opera and FireFox give you the choice.
IE can't be uninstalled. Why? Because Bill Gates said so.

...and so on:

9. Tabbed browsing.
Not in IE.

10. Skins.
Not in IE.

11. Mouse gestures.
Not in IE.

12. Quick search.
Not in IE.

Avant browser ownz!

"Avant browser" is not a standalone browser. It is IE with a few features stolen from Opera.
But it's still "old good" IE engine with all its speed, standards and security flaws.

If you think that IE "ownz", please visit this site:
IE ownz

The page is simple, it validates, it's written 100% correctly. Pure HTML+CSS.
To bad it crashes IE.

Undo is in Opera but not in IE... they make the most popular Word Processing software and they forget UNDO? I swear Bill Gates is on crack..

quote:Originally posted by BManx2000
Opera just has too much fat on it.


Fat? What do you mean?

Download size? - less than 4 MB - the smallest from all major browsers (including FireFox)

Size after installation? - 5 MB - much smaller than all other browsers.

Speed? - It renders pages faster than IE and has faster user interface than FireFox.

E-mail and chat client? - You can turn it off with 4 mouse clicks, and it won't bother you any more.

Layout? - Opera has many great features, it's obvious that it shows them on the deafult layout. But you can turn off every toolbar you don't need, even the menu bar (ctrl+f11). You can delete every button you don't use. You can hide every panel, if you want to. And the customization is as simple as possible. Opera really gives the power to user.

So? Where is the fat?

quote:Originally posted by palloco

The main reason I did not use Opera was because it was figging annoying. I dislike having the tabs at left , ocuppying a lot of space and giving no info

What??? Opera NEVER had tabs on left on the default layout. You or someone else had to put it there.

Anyway is it that hard to right-click the toolbar, to choose "customize toolbar" (or something like that, I have Polish version) and set the location of it ("top" instead of "left")?

quote:Originally posted by palloco
pages rendered incorrectly at full display mode
Could you give the link to the pages?
BTW, it is not fullscreen mode like in IE, it is Opera Show mode, it is used for presentations like in PowerPoint, but made with HTML+CSS. It is not supposed to work exactly like normal mode.

quote:Originally posted by palloco
(because the normal mode wastes the whole screen with toolbars)
View->Toolbars
Turn off a toolbar if you don't need it.

quote:Originally posted by palloco
When had 7.51 appeared??? I looked the releases notes and it goes from 7.23 to 7.50 beta.

A few weeks ago. It appeared on www.opera.com

bleh. I stick to IE because it was every website is designed for. I just used an extra shell that gives me a LOT of added fatures. I use flashpeak's slimbrowser and I hear crazy browser is good too.

quote:Originally posted by blan
I stick to IE because it was every website is designed for

Not true.

Few sites are made for IE only. Most of these sites are crap.

Personally ,I had ANY problems with that.

But I can give you links to sites which work bad with IE, because of very poor support for modern web standards in IE.

that site you posted above didnt crash IE at all. I've used opera, and I loved it. I hated the fact that it has too many extra features that I dont need but I like it.
I might start using on of these new browsers when they get faster but not right now.

Most sites are made mainly for IE, maybe not exclusively, but mainly. I like the fact that when I open my browser it opens almost instantly and I dont have to wait 5 seconds (and I do run a fast computer).

It is very interesting what you say because I tested the speed of IE and Opera once. I made about 40 tests, and on the average Opera loading time was faster (I don't remember how much exactly, about 2s )

But it depends on the computer of course.


BTW, "Back" and "Forward" are much faster, because Opera caches pages in memory, IE reloads it.

BTW2 Speed is not only about loading sites. Mouse gestures, tabbed browsing, undo funcion, quick search, turning off images with one mouse click, quick preferences - it all makes using Opera much faster than IE.

"turning off images with one mouse click" thats the only feature I truly miss about Opera. Everything else I get using a freeware shell.
Thats another thing, IE is free. Opera isn't. its easy to make it free, but nonetheless.

Also, once Opera has been loaded for the first time it stays in memory and loads up a lot faster. However, that first load up takes longer than IE. I'm also a creature of habit, and I dont want to move from Slimbrowser unless I have to.


Like I said, I have nothing against Opera. I like it a lot, and Ive defended it quite a few times since it has saved me when IE craps out. (Which it does a lot more frequently). So if youre trying to tell me that Opera is good, you get no argument from me.
Truce twin brother, truce.

quote:Originally posted by palloco
I am done with opera. It crashes whenever I try to make it default explorer
"Explorer"? No wonder why it crashes. Try to make it default BROWSER ;)
Seriously, it's very strange. Opera is my default browser and I didn't get any crashes while seting this. But do you really need to set Opera as default browser to use it?
quote:Originally posted by palloco

it is still unable to show pages properly in f11 display

I explained that a few posts earlier but give me the link to the page which doesn't show "properly" in OperaShow.

But why won't you remove unused toolbars instead? Look at the View->Toolbars menu FFS! :)
quote:Originally posted by palloco
I am unable to login in soldatforum...
Yes you are, just look at me :)
tools->preferences->history and cache->check documents->always
it should work now

quote:Originally posted by blan
IE is free. Opera isn't.

Wrong

IE is NOT free.

1. To get IE you NEED to buy Windows, that's about 200$ in Poland. I have Windows 98. I needed it anyway, so it's OK.

2. The next important upgrade of IE is called ServicePack 2. It is not ready yet, but it will be critical upgrade, because it patches MANY security holes in IE.

Unforunatelly SP2 won't work on Windows 98, nor on Windows 2000.

What?! I have to buy a completly new OS only to get the upgrade of my browser???

YES. And, well... that's another 200$. Only to get the upgrade of IE, because seriously, I don't need a new fancy-shmancy OS.

Thanks God I use Opera.

But that's not the end of the story.

Let's say that I use IE (difficult to imagine, but possible). Now I have Windows XP, tought I didn't want it. But to get the next version of IE, (IE7 I suppose) I will have to buy another OS - Longhorn! That's another 200$.

But that's not the end of the story, because with Longhorn I will have to do a major upgrade of my computer. I wanted just a new version of Internet Explorer, and it costed me hundreds of dollars!!!

How this can be called free?


***

Opera IS REALLY free. To be exact, there is free version with an adverisement bar. It can be downloaded for free for Windows, Linux, MacOS, and other operating systems.

Of course you can remove the advertisement bar by registering Opera, but it won't cost you as much as a new IE version.

My default browser or however u call it is firefox, I bet opera dislikes it.

"Turn off a toolbar if you don't need it."
Like turning off the banner? Come on the toolbars are enormous. and i need the menus and the address toolbar and it is still occupying a lot.
Registering? I did not register soldat and do u believe I am gonna register weird opera
If you have to see a banner when u surf the web...
I think ever1 agrees it sux, so yes, [:-censored] is free

What??? Opera NEVER had tabs on left on the default layout. You or someone else had to put it there."
Whatever u call it, I open a new page and it appeared in the left side

And why in the world do I have to know that check documents must be done always and not simply when reloading the web or whatever. What is the relation of documents with the logging on forums?


IE is free, u can download it anywhere and therefore without having windows. Another thing is using it. And if u have evaluation version of windows, just like me you can use it completely free.

Hmm...
I use back n forward really often, so I might change 2 Opera..
But i'm happy with my avant browser...
I use win 98 n it runs perfectly here.. no crashes, optimum speed..
so I really don't see any probs with it.

palloco, please remove the link. You're linking to a warez site.

..and yes, that page is messed up in fullscreen. (why would you want to browse a warez page in fullscreen? there's no porn ad anyway :P)

Some people just won't notice that IE sucks until they try something different ("ie wurks fine dude!"

quote:Originally posted by palloco
My default browser or however u call it is firefox, I bet opera dislikes it.
Why? Maybe FF dislikes that you wanted to set Opera as default browser? ;-)
BTW, I really like FF, it is my "secondary browser"
You should read my first post here, the last post on the page 1.
I'm not here to attack FF.

quote:Originally posted by palloco
"Turn off a toolbar if you don't need it."
Like turning off the banner?
Don't be silly. Toolbars have nothing to do with the banner. What you did by saying this is called manipulation.

quote:Originally posted by palloco
Come on the toolbars are enormous. and i need the menus and the address toolbar and it is still occupying a lot.
Two toolbars occupying a lot? OK. Get a skin, which is more screen-space efficient: (click while in Opera):
Opera Standard Compact Edition V2.3
... or even more screen-space efficient:
Breeze II V3.3
... or even more screen-space efficient:
Breeze Simplified MICRO V3.3

not enough? (I warn you, I have other solutions prepared ;)

quote:Originally posted by palloco

Registering? I did not register soldat and do u believe I am gonna register weird opera
If you have to see a banner when u surf the web...
I think ever1 agrees it sux, so yes, [:-censored] is free

Google text ads - around 20 pixel high. If you hate it soooo much and you don't want to register Opera - you are right! - Opera is not for you.

quote:Originally posted by palloco

What??? Opera NEVER had tabs on left on the default layout. You or someone else had to put it there."
Whatever u call it, I open a new page and it appeared in the left side

On default layout, right after the installation? You must have some different Opera. Or you simple lie.



quote:Originally posted by palloco

And why in the world do I have to know that check documents must be done always and not simply when reloading the web or whatever. What is the relation of documents with the logging on forums?

You don't have to know it. But feel free to ask if something doesn't work for you. Now it works - simple, isn't it :D

If you don't visit forums or sites which are updated very often, you don't need the "always". Not checking pages always make things faster.


quote:Originally posted by palloco

IE is free, u can download it anywhere and therefore without having windows. Another thing is using it. And if u have evaluation version of windows, just like me you can use it completely free.

MS said that the next verion of IE will be only with Longhorn, not even available for download.

quote:Originally posted by Aquarius
Don't be silly. Toolbars have nothing to do with the banner. What you did by saying this is called manipulation.
I love manipulation

"Breeze II V3.3""
Already using it :P. Now using the micro one. But I want it smaller


"MS said that the next verion of IE will be only with Longhorn, not even available for download."
Better, each new version of IE is even worst than the previous.

BTW the new FireFox 0.9 sux, it crashes a lot, maybe it is the time to try Opera while they dont fix FF or getting back to 0.8, which worked correctly





EDIT: link erased, now Aquarius should do the same.
Boosta, it is not pointless. Debating we can see the pros and the cons of using them from different points of view and therefore it makes it possible to change of mind.

I'm using Firefox, and I love it. You can't compare Firefox and Opera by the features they support when it's installed. There are really, really, REALLY many plugins and themes for firefox. But well, I never really tried out Opera, because of the big banner that was disturbing me :o I don't want a shareware browser.

quote:Originally posted by palloco
[quote]Originally posted by Aquarius
"Breeze II V3.3""
Already using it :P. Now using the micro one. But I want it smaller

The micro one is the smallest I know.

But if you need even more space...
Menu
DO NOT CLICK THE LINK! (well, you may do this, but I want to show you how simple browser customization can be)

Simple drag&drop the link somewhere on your address toolbar.
A window will appear - choose OK.
Congratulations! - you have adeed a completely new button to Opera.

Now all menus you need are accesible from the button. You won't need the menu toolbar anymore - you may turn it off! (ctrl+F11).

simple, isn't it? :D

quote:Originally posted by palloco
Boosta, it is not pointless. Debating we can see the pros and the cons of using them from different points of view and therefore it makes it possible to change of mind.

Yep, that's right.

I'm just against stuff like "firefox sux use oepra", that's just wrong.
Pointing out weaknesses/advantages is ok :)

Edit: Thanks Aquarius.. one toolbar less.

Yep, Aquarius was the one who converted me. *Huggles him*

..I think I'll stay out of this argument (although I started it) cause it seems Aquarius is doing pretty well.

Polloco, change your sig, it's [:-censored]ing annoying!

Edit:quote:Ode to Opera

When errors were incessantly
A part of Microsoft's I.E.,
I searched the web for something new
And yes, my opera, I found you!

Your pages, tabbed, are quite abound,
With features, options, always found.
And built-in clients: IRC,
Oh Opera, I'm in love with thee!

You browse the web, and check my mail.
The pages load and never fail!
You lay afore me, unsurpassed
You're bold and sleek, and truly fast!

And to this day, I whine no more;
Each version beats the one before.
And on my desktop there shall be
Forever Opera, error-free!..and no, I didn't write that, I found it here

Aquarius: hey man one question with opera... i turned off the main toolbar, then when i get back into opera its there again. any ideas on how to make it stay off? thx

That's strange, it shouldn't reappear. Try to restart Opera right after you turned it off.

Aquarius, I know there's a way to set a page to refresh every x amount of minutes/seconds, but how do you do it?

AFAIK, it's set in html source of the web page, I'm not sure what ar you asking about... web pages or opera pages (tabs). I think opera pages can't be automatically refreshed but who knows?

There's an addon for it in firefox. XD

Hitman: in opera right click on the page and select reload every (n) seconds.

WOW, Thanks! :D Opera has more in its small and tight 3.5 MB installation file than I could ever imagine [:)]

I don't need to look for/install dozens of addons to make my browser usable. Opera already has everything I need [;)]

Hot sechs :D

Thats why I would prefer Opera over firefox. It has all of what you need out of the box, no need to fiddle around for 15 minutes with extensions and change numerous settings. The major downside is that it costs 39 USD (if you are an honest chap who doesn't crack software).

On the contrary Firefox is much easier to customize than Opera, becuz there are just a bunch of options while in Opera you are lost.

quote:Originally posted by Hova
The major downside is that it costs 39 USD (if you are an honest chap who doesn't crack software).

Registered version costs 39 USD, students have a discount. But you may use free version if you are honest Opera user and don't want to pay. The only one difference is that free version has thin advertisement bar, which display Google text ads. By paying you remove the bar.

quote:Originally posted by palloco
On the contrary Firefox is much easier to customize than Opera, becuz there are just a bunch of options while in Opera you are lost.

FF much easier to customize?

How to change a skin without restarting browser?
How to add/change key shortcuts?
How to add a new button, not from the default set?

I agree FF has simpler DEFAULT interface (because FF has less features out of the box). But FF is not easier to customize!

quote:Originally posted by Aquarius

How to change a skin without restarting browser?
How to add/change key shortcuts?
How to add a new button, not from the default set?


1- Tools- Themes- Use theme

2- You cant.

3- Right click- customize

Aqurius, it still doesn't mean that it isn't a downside ;). To many, they don't want to see an ad banner or pay for a browser where there is a similar free one (Firefox).

Pallaco, the thing with firefox, you have to get a lot of extensions to make it work along the lines of opera. Mouse gestures? Extension. Making it automatically open a link from outside the window in a new tab? Extension and/or digging through about:config. Advanced middle click options? Extension. This can also be reversed in the other direction: you can say Opera is "bloated" because it has all this and a bit more.

Although one reason Opera gets bashed is because it looks cluttered with the default install. Not being able to click and drag the toolbars around also is a disadvantage.

quote:Originally posted by palloco
quote:Originally posted by Aquarius

How to change a skin without restarting browser?
How to add/change key shortcuts?
How to add a new button, not from the default set?


1- Tools- Themes- Use theme

2- You cant.

3- Right click- customize

1. Yeah, my mistake. It is possible in FF too (in Mozilla it's not). But you can't change color schemes for a skin (and yes, I use this feature in Opera, because I prefer some skins in blue) [:P]

2. You can't... and shortcuts in FF sucks (at least for me). We are talking about customization, remeber? If something is not possible it is easier? Interesting theory...

3. I'm not talking about these few default buttons you have in FF. I'm talking about new buttons, like the menu button I presented to you. In Opera you just drag&drop it from a website on your toolbar and you may use it. Or you make your own, which is much easier than making your own extention (not possible for an average user - it's a programist's task). Of course in theory extentions could do more than custom buttons/panels, but in practice most of the useful extentions just mimic Opera features.

BTW the customization... how to change the location of toolbars, I can't find out how to do it in FF. I added some usefull buttons below the page view in Opera, I would like to have the same in FF.


PS. One thing I really like about FireFox customization is that you may add your own toolbars.
In Opera you may do something like that too, just in a different way, not as intuitive as in FF.

Yeah, we talking about customization, if FF has less options it will be much easier to find them, and therefore you wont get lost in the middle of so many options, wondering what should you change to be able to log in the forums or to make Opera stop reloading pages once they are loaded.

I guess u cant change bars location but wanting that is simply weird. Something I would alos like is putting navigation bar, menu bar, and tabs bar in the same line, but none of these navigators let you do that. And no, I do not want putting menu bar as a pseudo button, I wanna be able to change quick preferences quickly.

quote:Originally posted by palloco
Yeah, we talking about customization, if FF has less options it will be much easier to find them

So, if something doesn't exist it's easier to find? Errr... strange kind of logic [:o)]

quote:Originally posted by palloco
guess u cant change bars location but wanting that is simply weird.
Maybe I am weird, but I prefer to have it on the bottom. That's what we are talking about - customization!

quote:Originally posted by palloco
I wanna be able to change quick preferences quickly.
F12 [:o)]

quote:Originally posted by palloco
or to make Opera stop reloading pages once they are loaded.
It is not default Opera behavior. Did you have some problems with it or just read about it here and didn't understand what Hitman was asking about?

If something does not exist, it is easier to find the things that exist between the things that doesn't.

BTW, customizations... bleh. The important thing is that things work fast and correctly and to me FF is faster than Opera. I had not tested how they load the full pages, just how fast I can navigate, and Opera is slower displaying the text of the pages... Well adn IE simply sux. It does not even display text first.

OK, I could continue about which browser is faster, but I think I will stop here: I agree that IE simply sux [:D]

I will copy and paste a part of my earlier post, because I like it very much [;)]
For me it's the end of the topic.

***

Both Opera and FireFox are good choice. Internet Explorer is bad.

Why?

1. Both Opera and FireFox are modern.
IE is about 3 years old. For internet technology it's like 3 hundred years.

2. Both Opera and FireFox are secure.
IE has over 20 known, yet not patched dangerous security holes.

3. Both Opera and FireFox follow new internet standards (CSS, XHTML, PNG images).
IE brake / does not support the modern internet standards.

4. Both Opera and FireFox can stop ads.
IE can't do this.

5. Both Opera and FireFox are highly customizable.
People have different needs. But not in IE.

6. Both Opera and FireFox are OS independent.
You will need Longhorn to upgrade IE. Better start to save your money. Or change the browser.

7. Both Opera and FireFox are fast.
IE load pages slower and takes about 10x more space on my HD.

8. Both Opera and FireFox give you the choice.
IE can't be uninstalled. Why? Because Bill Gates said so.

...and so on:

9. Tabbed browsing.
Not in IE.

10. Skins.
Not in IE.

11. Mouse gestures.
Not in IE.

12. Quick search.
Not in IE.

well, i think u should make your own choice,
myself uses opera :D
but firefox is even that good
the point is not to use internet explorer.
just like mirabilis icq and the other pretty good clients
(like miranda-im and so on)
with opera/mozilla u cant get any ircworms of
any jpg pics and so on
what i love on opera is, that i can use it
for mail and surfing in 1 window
in normal windows [:-censored] i would need like 10, 1 for outlook
and the others to surf, there ive opened everything in the opera taskbar.
just comfortable. :D i recommend both of them, make your own choice :P