The Phantom of the Opera

Just a quickie to tell you that your favourite browser Opera is available in a new version, 7.50 Preview 1. Actually, I happened on Decemeber 19, I was just a little slow to notice. Unfortunately, the GUI was to cluttered, I’m sticking to 7.23 until it’s possible to customize it more. New features include

  • RSS reader
  • Experimental IRC support
  • Spell checking using external checkers like Aspell
  • Learning message filters

You might see all these new features as a good thing. I see them as a bad thing, at least the IRC and RSS support. Opera is supposed to be a web browser. Now it’s turning into an Internet Swiss Army Knife, a bloated feature creep, with all kinds of semi-useful features I’ll rather have in separate applications and launch them whenever I need them instead. What Opera need to do is what Mozilla has done: Release an Internet suite thingy, Mozilla, and also make separate clients for web browsing, Mozilla Firebird, and for e-mail and news, Mozilla Thunderbird available. Or at least make some options in the installer that lets you trash features you really don’t want.

Is this the beginning of the end for Opera? In my opinion, it could be. Download and read more about the preview version over at the Opera forums.

Apple also finally revealed their iPod-secret; the iPod mini. Another one of those Apple-gadgets you’ll want.


Feedback

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Caution

It looks like you're using Google's Chrome browser, which records everything you do on the internet. Personally identifiable and sensitive information about you is then sold to the highest bidder, making you a part of surveillance capitalism.

The Contra Chrome comic explains why this is bad, and why you should use another browser.