Opera 11 = Extensions

More explanation regarding Opera 11 extensions: http://my.opera.com/chooseopera/blog/2010/10/14/opera-11-will-have-extensions

And an interesting comment found there:

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"Firefox is (not openly) trying to find a way to move away from extensions.

They are trying:
- "soft extensions" through Jetpack.
- "hardcoding" like "Inspector" (same as Dragonfly) instead of "Firebug" or "Personas".

They discovered that 99% extensions are poorly coded and it is impossible to supervise them and the side effect is people installing tons of crap than complaining Firefox is slow or crashes."

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From the official blog posts and comments, it seems that Opera's extensions system will mimic Chrome/Safari more than it will Firefox. Unless Opera screws up big time somewhere, it's fairly safe to assume that Opera won't suffer from the same drawbacks that Firefox does.

Personally I'm glad to see Opera doing the right thing after years of insisting that it doesn't need extensions. Perhaps it'll also be possible to develop a good debugging tool as an extension instead of forcing web devs to use Dragonfly; that, and other extensions, will hopefully be enough for Opera to finally become a "mainstream" browser.

 

Currently giving a 404.

But this is good enough:
http://my.opera.com/chooseopera/blog/

 

@guest, that link is already in first post...

About extensions, I think Opera already has almost need features for a browser, but the extension feature will let other users to customize it for their needs and preferences, so I don't have nothing against extensions.

At least Opera will let the users to decide what they want...

I just hope that can be possible to make the extensions as a standard, so we can use extensions from other browsers, but will be not easy if the other browsers doesn't cooperate on this...

 

possibly, but i hope it doesnt get Chromes negatives with extensions either, as in being more limited in their abilities compared to native firefox extensions and not being able to organize the extensions where u want them to be (this is my biggest annoyance with chrome, all the extensions u have just lineup next to the address bar and u cant do anything about them)

long as opera doesnt have those 2 drawbacks then it sounds good

 

As far as the first negative is concerned, the alternative is worse. Firefox exposes all its browser internals to its extensions system, which allows for some very powerful extensions. But it's like allowing every program you install on your PC to hook the OS kernel. When you take a moment to think about it, that's ridiculous, really, because 95% of extensions simply do not require that much access privileges to deliver their functionality.

The Chrome/Safari model allows for less powerful extensions, but the benefits are enormous. By only exposing a selected set of APIs instead of allowing extensions to tamper with the browser directly, extensions are unlikely to introduce security, stability, and performance issues, where in extreme cases a single extension has been known to result in a 40-50% decrease in speed. They're also less likely to stop working every time you upgrade your browser. And despite this, it's still possible to provide a wide range of functionality if your set of exposed APIs is carefully chosen. Mozilla knows this; it's the reason they're working on the Jetpack SDK to provide a Chrome/Safari-like extensions system.

As far as I'm concerned, Opera is on the right track by not following Firefox's approach.

 

hey, if they can acheive the same functionality with addons like Adblock Plus, ghostery, lastpass etc that firefox has but with tightened security measures then im all for it, its wen they start putting out crippled extensions because of the limited API's they are provided that it bumbs me out, so i hope Opera gives the devs the necessary API's they need to create fully functional firefox addon alternatives while still having that increased security if possible.

 

That's the big question, is Opera willing to "open itself up", so to speak, to allow maximum functionality, and, will it in turn decrease security. Are they willing to go with it if it decreases security? The current method Firefox uses may not be safe, but extensions that need to work fully, do. In Chrome, it's a crapshoot. Responsibility is also in the hands of the extension developers. I can only cross my fingers and hope Opera does the right thing here. They've got a lot of work to do, in my eyes. The "widget-like" appearance has to go, and, I simply won't stand for extension information taking up half my screen.

That's the benefit of Firefox extensions, with exception to toolbars and such, Firefox extensions are almost always out of the way, tucked into a corner with a small, but readable icon. And, the information is kept either up or down in a corner, again, in a small, but readable form. The security might not be there, but the visual aspect, the thing the general population of users care about, is. As said, the benefit of Chrome extensions is that they aren't given an "all access pass", but, it comes with the price of half-working extensions a lot of times. That's something users aren't going to want to deal with.

It's a balancing act for sure, but if Opera can pull it off, they stand to gain a lot of respect and, more importantly, a lot of new users.

 

On this topic, I'm surprised that nobody hasn't mentioned the original and, to date, still the most powerful extensions system yet: ActiveX. In fact, the problem was that it was TOO powerful, and we've all seen how that turned out.

 

The Video Demo of Opera 11 Alpha

 

Already in the first post!

 

Doh! Sorry ...

 

I think it's too late now - if you like extensions use Firefox or Chrome! Opera will never become popular ...

 

Never say Never.

Thanks.

 

I don't know about "never", I personally want to see them succeed...I bet a few people here weren't expecting that! The more we have to choose from, the better, and the better browsers will become as they fight it out to remain on top. Look what Firefox and Chrome have finally done to IE, what Chrome did to Firefox. All three are great choices, with slight differences making one preferable to an individual user over another. Opera software isn't Opera's problem, it's marketing. Yes, to me Opera has a few issues, but overall, it's one sturdy little sucker with a LOT of tweaking options..perhaps too many?

I think this extension deal is either going to finally get them some good coverage or it will just be another "also ran" in the next "browser war" story in the media. The marketing department has to get off of their thumbs though, the U.S market is extremely important, IMHO. When the marketing department does their job properly, it will be up to users as to whether Opera finally gets its day in the sunshine.

Edit: By the way, I don't "like" extensions themselves, but find ABP much too good to not use, and sadly Noscript has become one of those "must haves". BUT, build both of those abilities (truly functional and powerful, not watered down or crippled) into the browser, any browser, and you start being able to move away from extensions. Those are just two examples, I know, but they are by far the most popular extensions. The rest, IMHO, fall into the "personal preference" category.

 

K-Meleon has an built-in adblocker & if it had an internal No-Script & didn't break so many pages these days it would be almost perfect (well, that & a good spell-checker LOL).