# Opera vs. Firebird **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697 "2004-01-04T21:24:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/21 "2004-01-08T14:09:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by prisoner6655321 \* > \*\* Take the tabs for example. Opera saves the tabs with each session. Opera crashes, you get the tabs back. You also get the HISTORY of each tab. You can also SAVE the tab sessions, INCLUDING MORE THAN ONE OPERA SESSION!!! You can open two Opera sessions, each having multiple tabs, and save the session. Then when you open the session in the future, another Opera instance will open displaying the other tabs. > \*\* There is an extension called Session Saver which does this. Does Opera have mouse gestures? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/22 "2004-01-08T14:17:06Z")
I know you don’t like extensions but check out [Session Saver](http://www.pikey.me.uk/mozilla/#ss) - it does pretty much what you describe. Doesn’t allow you to name the session or do crash protection AFAIK - I say ‘AFAIK’ because I can’t remember the last time Firebird crashed on me. Kinda worries me the way Opera fans always mention this feature, as if it’s a necessity… ---
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/23 "2004-01-08T18:06:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KidCharlemagne \* > \*\*Does Opera have mouse gestures? \*\* You’re kidding, right? Opera INVENTED mouse gestures. Don’t expect a cite, but I know they had them LOOOONG before firebird/mozilla did. ---
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/24 "2004-01-08T18:17:34Z")
Okay, if I ever get back into Firebird I’ll check Session Saver out, though I won’t hold my breath. I VERY much use the sessions to their full capacity. I still occasionally use sessions I created years ago. The crash protection really isn’t about Opera crashing. Opera has been mostly stable, though it has happened in the past. But not any moreso than most windows programs. Really it’s great protection when your COMPUTER crashes, which happens to me fairly frequently, once a week maybe? ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/25 "2004-01-08T20:12:10Z")
Oh, one more thing that makes me shake my head at Firebird is that when you open a URLthat fails to load (like, say a thread on the Straight Dope when the hampsters are acting more like lemmings), the address bar becomes: “about: blank”. Opera leaves the URL you attempted in the address bar, so you can attempt it later. That feature alone means it’s the only brower I use for the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/26 "2004-01-09T04:34:44Z")
I must admit that Opera’s session saver and mouse gestures are both better than the extensions in Firebird. With Session Saver installed on Firebird, I can’t find a way to really close all the pages for good, and not have them come back next time. When I close the last tab, it gets saved. In Opera, I close all the tabs, then close the main window, and Opera remembers that the session was empty. And I don’t see a way to make Firebird open a page in a new tab with a gesture. In Opera I can right-drag down on a link to open it in a new tab, but in Firebird I have to ctrl-click the link. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/27 "2004-01-09T05:38:47Z")
Looks like middle-clicking opens a link in a new tab… I guess I don’t need a gesture for that. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/28 "2004-01-09T11:08:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by emarkp \* > **Oh, one more thing that makes me shake my head at Firebird is that when you open a URLthat fails to load (like, say a thread on the Straight Dope when the hampsters are acting more like lemmings), the address bar becomes: “about: blank”.** Huh? Which version are you using? This has never happened to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/29 "2004-01-09T13:32:04Z")
I think **emarkp** means when you open a page in a background tab. And I agree that it is really annoying. You have to keep the index page open and remember which threads you middle-clicked on, just in case they fail to open. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/30 "2004-01-09T20:41:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Usram \* > I think **emarkp** means when you open a page in a background tab. And I agree that it is really annoying. You have to keep the index page open and remember which threads you middle-clicked on, just in case they fail to open. I’ve noticed the same thing. With Opera, if a page doesn’t load the first time, you can highlight it with the mouse and hit enter, to try to load it. With Firebird, you have to keep the index page. I don’t think that Opera has an AdBlock feature. That really has grown on me. When I check hotmail now, there aren’t all of the ads crowding the sign in page. Firebird is only on 0.7 now, I wonder what features they will have by 1.0? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/31 "2004-01-09T21:30:50Z")
The Firebird problem is mentioned in [Bugzilla](http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=203102) (see also bug 103720). Strangely, it says “Resolved/Fixed”, but obviously it isn’t and recent comments in the thread suggest that it’s still an issue. Pretty confusing, Bugzilla. I hope somebody’s working on it. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/32 "2004-01-09T23:15:03Z")
I think it’s fixed in Mozilla 1.5 ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/33 "2004-01-09T23:49:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Usram \* > I think **emarkp** means when you open a page in a background tab. And I agree that it is really annoying. You have to keep the index page open and remember which threads you middle-clicked on, just in case they fail to open. You got it in one. My typical reading pattern is to hit a few of the boards, and then open a bunch of threads in the background. I then read them as I can. On every new release of Firebird I try using it for a while, and it drives me nuts every time the big list of “about: blank” pages shows up. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/34 "2004-01-10T04:22:25Z")
I’m trying Firebird myself right now and I don’t think I have the problem. I just went to my webpage, which I know has a link that doesn’t work anymore and tried opening it in a tab. It gave a 404 message and the URL was still there, no about : blank message. On the other hand, I do remember something like tihs happening a couple days ago when I first was using the browser, I’m not sure what that’s about. I think it’s a pretty good browser, especially considering it’s free. I prefer it to Internet Explorer that’s for sure. I really haven’t used the other browsers very much so I don’t know about them. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/35 "2004-01-11T00:10:54Z")
I’ve managed to get firebird to do the about : blank thing, so it seems that it does happen for me just not all the time. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/36 "2004-01-11T00:59:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sjc \* > **I think it’s a pretty good browser, especially considering it’s free.** That’s precisely why I’m a Firebird user and not an Opera user. ---
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/37 "2004-01-11T01:00:22Z")
You know you barely notice the ad banner. But I definately notice the “beta-ness” of Firebird. ---
**Author:** ![nitroglycerine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nitroglycerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nitroglycerine)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/38 "2004-01-11T02:40:19Z")
I tried Firebird about a month ago and really liked it. In fact, I went about two weeks without using Opera at all, but then, I started noticing all the little annoying bugs like the “about: blank” one, and it also seems to freeze up every once in awile. plus, there’s a few trivial features that Opera has that gives it the edge, IMHO anyway. As for the ad, I never even notice it. Jon ---
**Author:** ![Headspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8491ac/32.png) [@Headspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headspace)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/39 "2004-01-11T18:19:57Z")
For anyone that cares - more technical discussion on Opera v Firebird browser stuff here [http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=24316](http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=24316) ---
**Author:** ![Headspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8491ac/32.png) [@Headspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headspace)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697/40 "2004-01-11T18:23:35Z")
Also for anyone using Firebird or Opera - speed tweak located here: I dont use either so cant tell you if it works but seems to ahve lots of good postings [http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=4306](http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=4306) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opera-vs-firebird/222697.md?page=1)