are you saying that FF extensions are either ‘unsafe’ or ‘difficult to use’ ???

enough ‘double-talk’ - FF seems to be happy enough with it’s extensions, surely Opera can compete???

And no, I *dont* think we want to break out of the ‘walled garden’ of JS!!

- it is this ‘broken wall’ that makes ‘ActiveX’ so difficult to manage!! (needing Mb’s of patches every week just to fill another hole…)

I think prevention is better than cure!!

Originally posted by illiad:

…

the proper way to say it, when Opera gets *safe* addons similar to Firefox, is it will **join** the competition…. and if becomes ‘better’ or ‘equal’ then everyone will be happy!

Any system of ‘addons’ or ‘extensions’ that is ’safe’ would be difficult to use, and would turn users off. In fact, it’d be about like UserJS is right now. No way of installing from within the browser, and manual setup in order to get them to work the first time you want to use them.

I’d be much happier if they would just extend UserJS to allow it to exist outside of webpages, and in Opera’s UI. That would give most extension lovers much of what they want without opening up new doors for more dangerous security flaws.

If the competition wins $millions, dont say you dont want it!!!

… I’m sorry, either way you twist it, it is *still* stupid….

If no.5 beats no.4, what does it become???? dont tell me you didnt get 4!!!!!

the proper way to say it, when Opera gets *safe* addons similar to Firefox, is it will **join** the competition…. and if becomes ‘better’ or ‘equal’ then everyone will be happy!

I guess I wouldn’t mind if it was only able to affect the GUI, and there were easy controls to turn of the entire system, and to disable in-browser installation (requiring that you drop the files in the proper folders manually to install anything).

I really don’t want to see Opera implement extensions. That not beating the competition, that’s becoming the competition…

- ØØ -

From my bookmarks:

Opera 8 FAQ:
Why doesn’t Opera support extensions?
Opera does not support third party extensions as a quality assurance measure. Opera has rather incorporated the most useful and popular features in its browser and holds itself accountable for the functionality of these features. With integrated features rather than extensions, users are not subjected to the vulnerabilities of extensions created by third parties, which may or may not go through a verification or testing process. With the largest Web browser development lab in the world, Opera ensures that all of its features are smoothly integrated, tested and ready for the user.

Web developer chat with Mr. Jon von Tetzchner:
Pony Question from redondos :
Since adas touched the firefox subject, what do you think about an extensions-like system for Opera? Is it feasible, or even planned? I believe it could greatly enhance the already-ver-featureful Opera browser.
Pony Question from fearphage : Are there currently plans to implement a more powerful API structure like that of Firefox? If so, is this something that might make into Opera 10 or even further into the future?
JonSvT: In general, I can not tell you what we will be doing on these fronts. It is clear, however, that you can look forward to some very interesting stuff coming from Opera. The Widgets are a good start and IMHO they are a very good start. There is more to come.
JonSvT : Sorry to not be able to be more specific, but … well, you know.

- ØØ -

Originally posted by cap:

Weird, I haven’t heard anything about that before.

Really? As far as I can remember, Opera’s CEO has always had a negative view of extensions…

They’ve made their feelings rather clear in the past.

Weird, I haven’t heard anything about that before.

Originally posted by cap:

How do you know their feelings?

Confused.

They’ve made their feelings rather clear in the past. I was pretty certain that I’d seen an interview on OperaWatch where Opera’s CEO expressed that sentiment, but I can’t find it again…

I use M2 on a daily basis, and find some things VERY frustrating..

The lockups when checking mail, is a bug problem for me (RSS feed checking seems the worst, as it brings everything in Opera to it’s knees on my high spec PC).

I REALLY hope they implement a way to only grab the last few hundred messages in a newsgroup (something Outlook Express has always supported), as when I visit a high traffic newsgroup infrequently, I have to endure 1,000’s of messages before I get to THIS WEEKS’s postings.. Totally unbelivable that Opera Newsgroup viewer cannot “get last xx messages”. M2 developers, please say it’s true

Their feeling has always been that if they add support for extensions, then Opera would become Firefox.

How do you know their feelings?

Confused.

Their feeling has always been that if they add support for extensions, then Opera would become Firefox. We don’t need two Firefoxes. There’s just no point in that. So, extensions don’t get added.”

Looks like you are making too many assumptions here, huh?.

No one from Opera has ever said that there won’t be an API (or maybe an improved internal actions system which behaves more like an scripting language and includes more actions) and that’s basically the whole point. Other than that it is just pure speculation.

Originally posted by XP1:

… Inline spell checking has me stuck with Firefox.

Just wait until Konqueror is released for Windows.

Since addons and extensions can be installed from within the browser, then there will always be security flaws that will allow rogue addons to install themselves without the user’s knowledge.

Yes, extensions can be exploited. But, the success of firefox has shown that it can work without causing any significant problems.
Without extensions I have to almost always have Fx open by my side to do one thing or the other. API is the way to go forward. And as always, if someone doesnt want it they should have the option to disable it.

The problem of auto install can also be solved. Fx has added a delay mechanism which helps.
Also, Opera can add other protections. One possibility is to repackage and encrypt (the encryption key being based on some factor like workstation name)an addon upon being downloaded with user’s permission. Since, its encrypted malware makers wont be able to replicate and bypass Opera’s install mechanism.

Their feeling has always been that if they add support for extensions, then Opera would become Firefox. We don’t need two Firefoxes. There’s just no point in that. So, extensions don’t get added.

That is an incorrect assessment on their part. So, maxthon = firefox just because it supports add-ons? No! Maxthon is completely different from Firefox, and it manages to retain its identity because it has several unique features and uses a different rendering engine.