Still Wanting It All

This may be one of those posts that you want to skip.

It gets to me basically documenting my thinking about my personal use of web browsers and may bore you to tears.  But, if I blog about it, it helps if I ever need to rationalize what I’ve done or backtrack on my thinking.

A while ago, I had taken Opera Next for a ride and actually had installed it on a my computers and was happily using it.  Then, reality kicked in and I realized that the limitations to it ran too deep for my workflow.  So, I stopped using it although I kept it on my computer.  I just knew that since Opera had started using the same rendering engine that Google Chrome did that it might come in handy.

Online life resumed using Google Chrome and Firefox.

Over the weekend, a couple of the frustrations that I had with these browsers made me think that I’d like to take another look at Opera Next.  Using Chrome, periodically, my Macintosh would totally lock up and require a hard reboot.  Plus, my reflections about updating my blog bizarrely were documented in a post a week or so back.  Firefox was my saviour and I used it so well.  I was on the Beta channel in Firefox and was very interested to notice that the new interface had been released on that channel.  I was happily using that as an alternative but there was one little gotcha.  For some reason, I couldn’t find a pin to Pinterest on Shareaholic.  It as there on Chrome but not on Firefox that I could see.  I keep a Pinterest board for my blog posts for some unknown reason and so adding using two pieces of methodology was just bizarre. The current version of Google Chrome also isn’t playing nicely with the graphics on my Macintosh.  I like to do one CMD + – to make the text a bit smaller in Hootsuite so that I can fit more text on the screen.  The cursor leaves a bunch of artifacts on the screen that are annoying.

I should note that, if there is any finger pointing to be done, it’s at me.  I have no doubt that these problems are self-inflicted and that I just need to step back and isolate things.  But, that will come after I give Opera another chance.

I had been running version 20 so it was no surprise that there was at least one upgrade.  I’m now running version 21.

Opera has a nice clean looking interface…time to messy it up with the extensions that get me through the day.  Now I remember one of the reasons I didn’t stick with Opera before.  The selection of extensions is small when compared to Firefox and Chrome.  But, many of my favourites were there.  I thought that it was a shame that there weren’t more – after all, they were using the Blink engine just like Chrome.  Then I found the answer!  It’s called Download Chrome Extension.  It’s an extension that, when added, let’s you download Google Chrome extensions and install them.  There were only a couple of things that I wanted like the WordPress extension so I grabbed it and did the installations.  Sweet!

Now, I’m not much for a silvery look so next is to find a theme.  There are actually quite a few interesting ones from the Opera store but, as I’m poking around, there’s an option to create your own theme!

Now, how’s that for the ultimate customization.  Which one of the millions of pictures I have on my computer would I use?  I decided to take the image from my Grade 2 friends at Gosfield North.

So, I’m really cooking.  But, then I hit a couple of bumps – Opera Next is not available for Linux (yet?).  And, the synchronize feature between Macintosh and Windows isn’t working yet.  Man, I just want it all!

But, as I type this, I’m using the Scribefire editor in Opera under Windows and things appear to be working nicely.  I’m going to keep it for a while.  I like the Speed Dial, Discover, and the ability to handle extensions.  It is like working in Google Chrome with the exception of some user interface options that look different.  Some blogs are even calling it more polished.

So, it’s my go-to for right now.  Or, at least, until I get restless again.  My to-do list does include digging into the things that weren’t working with the other browsers.  Looking for the perfect browser is always fun.

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