Opera 10.60 Gripes and Complaints

I have downloaded and installed Opera 10.60 and there are several things
I really don't like about it.  I call these "gripes and complaints"
because some may feel these are just personal taste issues but I
disagree.  I think some of them are steps backward in development, and I
have a hunch some are unintended.  Rather than pick a fight, I'll just
give my list and let others choose to agree.  (Or not.)

I downloaded and installed Opera 10.60 on both Linux (Fedora) and
Windows (Win XP and Win 7) platforms.  Both cases were upgrades, as they
installed over previous, recent, versions of Opera 10.  In both cases,
prior settings I had made were removed and new "defaults" were set.

In the Windows version, my default Speed Dial search engine (choice of
Google) was replaced by a default setting of Bing.

In the Linux version, my default Speed Dial search engine (choice of
Google) was replaced by no search engine displayed on the Speed Dial
page.

The default display removed the Command toolbar in lieu of a "command
tab." It took me some figuring how to make that go away and put the
Command toolbar back.  In Windows I finally did so, but in Linux
although the Command toolbar appears the skin does not appear under it.
The background of the Command toolbar is solid gray.

In the Linux version my setting for an external mail client (Evolution)
was replaced by the default choice to use the internal Opera mail
client.

In both versions, the default settings of the Status toolbar were
installed over my preferred settings.  The "display minimized" setting
-- which was new to me (but maybe I didn't notice it on previous
versions) -- was particularly difficult to figure out and remove.

Additionally, for each of the last few upgrade installations, the Status
toolbar has placed an "Opera Unite" icon in the left area of the
toolbar.  I have chosen to move mine to the right area.  In the past few
previous releases, this results in two "Opera Unite" icons, in which I
have to remove the default one.  As stated, in the Opera 10.60 install,
all of my setting on the Status toolbar were ignored and the basic
default installed, so I had to reset the whole thing.

Previously, in my Linux versions of Opera, I have enjoyed selecting the
Bookmarks from the Command toolbar, then stepping down through the
various sub-menus to the point the bookmark I wish is displayed.  From
there, I formerly could right-click on any bookmark and display the
Properties of it.  This never worked in the Windows versions; to display
bookmark properties it was always necessary to begin with Manage
Bookmarks in a separate tab.  Now, however, in 10.60 the Linux version
works just as badly as the Windows version -- too bad, because I liked
being able to reach the bookmarks' Properties without needing to go
through Manage Bookmarks first.

In the Linux version of 10.60, some web pages' pop-ups do not open in
the background.  I checked, and my former setting to open all pop-ups in
the background remains selected.  It's odd: some pages DO open pop-ups
in the background and some DO NOT.  I haven't troubleshot exactly the
difference yet.  (On the Windows version, all pop-ups that I have found
do open in the background as intended.)

Well, that's the list.  But here is a pure gripe, meant for the Opera
development team.  What I like to call a "Microsoftian philosophy" is
the practice of developers making decisions on behalf of end users ahead
of time, and then preventing the user from having any say so about it.
Surely, Microsoft is not the only proprietary software firm to do this,
but they are certainly one of them.  Until now, this has been IMHO one
of the big features of Opera Software: eschewing the Microsoftian
outlook and leaving such things as previously set customizations alone
when new releases are installed.  As I see it, Opera 10.60 was a
**major** step in the wrong direction.  If I wanted other people to make
all of my user interface decisions in advance for me, I wouldn't use
Linux.  Please don't ruin a perfectly good browser by going completely
Microsoftian on us.  ;-)  Thanks.

	- Bill

-- 
J. William Cupp               Associate Professor of Computer and 
(765)677-2292                 Information Sciences, Indiana Wesleyan 
  dock at my homeport:        University, Marion, Indiana
    http://faculty.indwes.edu/bcupp
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