[Troubleshooter]

Does anyone have any opinions about the Opera browser?

http://www.opera.com/

I also like chrome. It is very fast, but I've grown accustomed to firefox. I haven't used INTERNET EXPLODER since 2008, and never will.

[TheSwarm]

i havent used Internet Explorer since os/2 warp. lol. inb4 nostalgia. also firefox > Google chrome Opera > Firefox.

[Nate]

I really dislike Opera, the company and the browser.
Opera was trying to sue microsoft because they made internet explorer come on all computers.
There may be more to the story but thats all I know.

[TheSwarm]

actually yes opera was sueing microsoft for that because microsoft even though they had a deal for a 5 year contract so that all opera software was pre-installed on microsoft windows but they instead decided to cancel the deal didnt pay and stoled the source code for opera and used IE.

[TheSwarm]

heres more info this is recent.
Plurk, the company that had code stolen by one of Microsoft's Chinese ventures, is considering pursuing Microsoft through the courts, according to a statement released yesterday. Skip related content

The firm explained that it is an incredibly small venture, with no marketing or sales department, and is therefore likely to be badly affected by the incident.

"This event wasn't just a simple matter of merely lifting code; due to the nature of the uniqueness of our product and user interface, it took a good amount of deliberate studying and digging through our code with the full intention of replicating our product user experience, functionality and end results," the post said.

"This product was later launched and heavily promoted by Microsoft with its big marketing budget.

"We are still thinking of pursuing the full extent of our legal options available due to the seriousness of the situation. Basically, Microsoft accepts responsibility, but they do not offer accountability."

[TheSwarm]

more new info
Below are some key developments in the Microsoft battle with regulators both in the USA and Europe. In a nutshell Microsoft got into trouble by using their dominant market position to unfairly suppress competition.

May 1998: Justice Department and 20 state attorneys general sue Microsoft, charging it illegally thwarted competition to protect and extend its monopoly on software.

October: Justice Department sues Microsoft for allegedly violating a 1994 consent decree by forcing computer makers to sell its Internet browser as a condition of selling its popular Windows software.

April 3, 2000: U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson finds that Microsoft violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, "maintained its monopoly power by anticompetitive means" and attempted to monopolize the Web browser market. The judge also rules that Microsoft unlawfully tied its Web browser to Windows.

Jan. 23, 2002: AOL Time Warner sues Microsoft, seeking damages for Microsoft's actions against the Netscape browser, which AOL had acquired.

Mar. 8: Sun Microsystems files antitrust suit against Microsoft, alleging extensive anticompetitive practices.

Dec. 18: RealNetworks sues Microsoft, accusing it of illegally monopolizing the growing field of digital music and video.

March 24, 2004: European Union fines Microsoft a record €497 million (about $666 million) for antitrust violations and orders it to divulge some trade secrets to competitors and produce a version of Windows without a bundled program that plays music and video files. The sanction is later suspended while a judge hears Microsoft's appeal for immediate relief.

April 2: Sun settles for $1.6 billion from Microsoft.

Nov. 8: Novell, which had raised antitrust claims in Europe, settles them for $536 million.

Dec. 22: An EU court rejects Microsoft's appeal of the March order that it disclose trade secrets and produce a version of Windows without the Media Player program. The decision effectively thwarts Microsoft's attempt to delay implementation.

June 7: EU regulators and Microsoft reach a compromise that delays the imposition of large daily fines for the company's failure to comply with some of the EU's demands. But several major issues, including Microsoft's sharing of technical information with rivals, remain unresolved.

Dec. 23: European regulators formally move to seek fines of as much as €2 million ($2.4 million) a day against Microsoft for failure to comply with longstanding orders to open software markets to competition.

Jan. 26, 2006: Microsoft offered to allow rivals some access to the proprietary source code of Windows, a move designed to head off the daily fines in Europe and mollify increasingly impatient antitrust authorities in the U.S.

Feb. 23: Several big Microsoft rivals, including IBM and Sun, file a formal complaint to the EU that targets the company's word processing and other widely used office programs.

March 29: EU says it has sent Microsoft a letter detailing antitrust concerns with the company's new Vista operating system.

May 12: The U.S. Justice Department said it wants to extend until at least November 2009 its oversight of some of Microsoft's business practices, citing lapses under their landmark settlement.

March 1, 2007: EU accused Microsoft of setting royalty fees too high for interoperability information, thus threatening more fines.

Oct. 22: Microsoft said it won't appeal the judgment, and agreed to slash royalty charges on licenses that EU regulators had forced the company to supply so that competitors could link their products effectively to Windows.

Dec. 12: Opera Software, the Norwegian company behind the Opera Web browser, filed a new complaint with EU regulators, claiming Microsoft shouldn't bundle Internet Explorer and Windows.

[busdriver72]

At first I hated Vista. Knowing how to use it was no biggie. It was slow as frozen syrup. I just put up with it.
Eventually, I started getting a message at startup telling me that the battery on the computer cannot be identified and that it would not be charged...press any button to continue (...and I couldn't find the "any" button"....ok....old joke...bad joke...) and logged on. Guess what? My battery DID charge as normal.
Okay, I was through pooting around, so I did a little research.
First, I made sure I had all the recent updates and service packs.
Vista is a memory hog. My Dell 1501 laptop only had 512MB of memory. It can hold up to 2Gig. Hmmmmmm. Also found that the error message at startup was itself an error, and there was a BIOS upgrade that coould clear it up.
After a few attempts at upgrading the BIOS, it worked. I also maxed out the RAM with the correct modules, and put my settings for best performance rather than best appearance....and I still like how it looks. I also went into msconfig and experimented with disabling specific startup programs. All this made a huge difference.
I actually enjoy my laptop now.

[Troubleshooter]

Best Buy sold me a desktop PC with a corrupt Windows vista OS that was giving me blue screens of death almost every day. It didn't start happening until after the 60 day warranty and I didn't know what to do about it because I was very new to computer technology and knew virtually Nothing about repairs or diagnosing an error. I eventually took matters into my own hands and reinstalled Windows XP on a whim not realizing what to do. It worked and for the most part(besides all minor issues like freezing, hanging, or locking up once in a good while) everything works a lot better. We already had our talks on vista as you've probably seen the posts, but I will never use it again. I'm not basing it off my own exp. only. I have two brothers who have vista and they have more issues with it than anything else in their life. This is no BS I get a calls almost everyday with a vista issue and frankly I'm tired of it but they won't convert to XP or 7.

[popeye67]

If the operating system was corrupted it was probably caused by something you downloaded, if it was slow it was either not enough ram or something you downloaded, as for going back to xp its like having a ferrari in the garage and riding round on a push bike because you like to take in the scenary(and get in the way of people who want to drive their ferraris).

[Troubleshooter]

It may have been something that was downloaded, but it wasn't the RAM as it had 2 GB's brand new computer and the RAM still works pristine today.. As far as being on the highway without a ferrari, that's okay, I usually take the remote & isolated scenic route so that's not a problem either. More on that point--if everyone had an Alienware laptop and I had a commodore 64 that's cool too. As long as I can do what I want and get by with what I need and play the games without any error issues. Another reason was that I wasn't allowed to play certain games on vista (even in XP compatibility mode patch or no patch) nothing worked.

Here popeye try this to see if vista will play:

Age of Mythology (PC game) Go ahead and install it on a PC sometime and see if it works on vista. I tried this with many games everything up to date and I always ran into the same problem. vista won't alow me to play the games I want. I spent weeks trying to resolve this problem to no good outcome. I installed XP ...no problems at all playing those games.


Age of Mythology®

IMO
Windows XP = less errors, more compatible games
Windows Vista = generally too many error issues and doesn't allow some XP games, but too many services that aren't needed for a home PC user.
Windows 7 = yet to be Judged real soon.

1 more thing I had problems with on vista on 3 different machines with different vista OS's was there were frequently problems with the Windows Updates failing to install or causing more problems when a new one was installed. Of the amount of time on vista based PC's (guestimate-Is about 2000-3000 hours I spent 3/4's of that time troubleshooting error's and various other maintainence. What's the point of having the Autobahn loaded with ferrari's if there's "trashed out" ferrari's causing accidents, traffic jams, and multiple car-pile ups?

Bottomline Vista is and was the #1 prime example of Planned Obsolescence. I am among 10's of 1000's that are testimony to that. Everywhere I hear the same things. Vista is shit; vista sucks; don't get vista it'll fry out your PC etc. Everyone from pedestrians to librarians to bankers knows it's the biggest OS botch in computer history. You among a very small handful are among the only people I even ever heard of that sticks up for vista. You are an endangered species my good man, and if it works for you great! My agenda among many people I know, get new PC users to hurdle from XP to 7 or recommend XP or 7, but stay away from vista or you might as well start stocking up on pain relievers now before you get it.