At work, I am required=
to access a secure web site to use services purchased by my employer fo=
r the conduct of business. No choice about it (but no problem, in my mi=
nd). However, a number of events chain together to preclude my using Op=
era to do so. First, at work I am behind a corporate firewall which is =
notoriously slow. It is so slow that colleagues who use primarily Micro=
soft Internet Explorer complain about how slow the firewall is. Next –=
and this is partly hunch on my part — my employer does not purchase su=
fficient bandwidth from the services company. During the work day, resp=
onse from the secure server is excruciatingly delayed. In evening usage=
and during the weekend it is noticeably much faster. (By comparison, o=
n the side I do some free lance work for another outfit which uses the s=
ame secure server, and it is nowhere near as slow in responding for them=
. I think — it makes sense — that the service company sells various b=
andwidths of access at different pricing levels. My employer just does =
not pay for enough bandwidth.

Opera is a very secure web browse=
r. As such, when connecting to secure web pages it demands a response w=
ithin a certain, very limited, time frame. At work, behind the firewall=
, and during the normal business day, the combination of our slow firewa=
ll and overloaded secure server means I simply CANNOT use Opera t=
o access this system. In frustration, I turn to Chrome to get my work d=
one. In the evenings, or any time I am not physically at work, the secu=
re server responds to Opera. Sometimes it requires two or three "r=
eloads" to get the page fully loaded, but it works.

I thin=
k Opera needs to provide in the Tools section a site-specific alternativ=
e to allow more time lag for a known, slow server. While I admit this i=
s less safe, the only choice is to use a different browser which is on t=
he whole much less safe. I don't have any choice to not use the se=
rvice — my employer mandates it.

In this scenario, I have buil=
t up a list of "reasons I prefer Opera over Chrome." Here the=
y are:

(1) Chrome fails pretty quick to the mouse, then keyboar=
d, then mouse, then keyboard … form of data entry. I have a secure we=
b page which I must use for my employer. And, I have two user ID's =
(for perfectly legitimate reasons) on this server, and Chrome does not s=
tore passwords for a web site in which two different user ID's are e=
ntered. Although we can see the safety implications here, Opera gives m=
e the choice whereas Chrome does not.

(2) On many web pages one=
can "tab" to the next element or form entry field. On one sy=
stem I frequently use, Opera at the main page requires 3 <TAB> key=
strokes to get the first place. On that same page, one day I tried tabb=
ing in Chrome. 23 <TAB> keystrokes later, I was not there yet.
(3) Opera's web browsing history seems to work much better fo=
r me. When I attempt to return to a URL that I have visited before or w=
hich is in my bookmarks file, the Opera URL auto-complete just works bet=
ter than the Chrome auto-complete.

(4) In Opera, one can open a=
"new URL" box with a keystroke of <F2>. If there is su=
ch a keyboard shortcut in Chrome, I can't find it. Even if one has =
the time and patience enough to <TAB> until you get to the URL box=
in Chrome, when you do the cursor is placed before the leading characte=
r. In Opera the entire present entry is highlighted and all you need do=
is begin typing the new URL. In Chrome, you have to <CTRL>-A to =
select all first before typing the new URL. If you don't the new ch=
aracters are just prepended before the existing entry.

(5) In O=
pera you can customize the speed dial page. In particular, you can ente=
r the specific web sites you wish to have pre-fetched. Chrome puts the =
most highly visited web sites in speed dial and you cannot change them (=
that I know of).

(6) Downloads work better in Opera. When I ne=
ed to download a document (e.g,. a DOC, CSV, MP3 file, etc.) in Opera I =
have the choice of downloading and saving it in a directory of my choosi=
ng, opening the file with the installed default application, or opening =
it with a new application. Chrome gives no such options. Documents ret=
rieved from a web site are first of all downloaded into the Download fol=
der. (By default, Opera downloads them into a temp folder which is eras=
ed automatically, but you have to clean out the Download folder in Chrom=
e manually.) Then, if you want to open the document, you can do so.

(7) Opera gives the choice to open in a new tab or open in a backg=
round tab. The difference is whether the focus goes to the new tab or s=
tays with the current one. Chrome only permits open in a new tab, but t=
hen it really is a background tab (in the sense that the focus remains i=
n the current tab).

What, you might ask? are there no other cho=
ices? Sure, most everyone at work uses Firefox but Firefox is waaaaayyy=
y slower than either Opera or Chrome. And, some folks still prefer to u=
se Internet Explorer, since, as they point out, the boss pays them by th=
e hour taking much longer to get things done is to their advantage. 😉 =

If you have any other reasons why Opera out-performs Chrome, p=
lease let me know.