Report shows which features and customizations are popular with Opera desktop users
Published July 9th, 2007 12:18 PM EDT By Daniel GoldmanThe Opera Desktop team posted some usage statistics on how people use and customize Opera.
Back when Opera 9.2 was released, every one in one hundred users was given the option to report back to Opera anonymous usage statistics. These reports showed which features were being used, how Opera was customized, etc.
Using this feedback Opera is making some changes to future browser updates. For example, the Status bar is quite popular, so Opera is considering enabling it by default.
This feedback is extremely important to Opera, especially since Opera is taking a new look into the browser’s usability and user experience. (Read about it here)
- Quite a few people have installed widgets, but virtually no one arranged them in folders.
- A preference Opera added by popular request, the ability to turn on Fit to Width by default is used by 0.0%
- The option to “Open windows instead of tabs” (SDI if you like) is the *least* popular of all the tab options, which tells something about the popularity of tabs…
- The option to flip the buttons for mouse gestures is used by only 1% of those who enabled mouse gestures, which possibly indicates that many left-handed users prefer a right-handed mouse setup.
- 51% actually change the home page address.
- The status bar is quite popular, so Opera is considering turning it on by default again.
- When using the Master password, about half of Opera users want to be asked every time needed, the other half once per session. Only one in 5,000 users set a fixed interval instead.
- JavaScript and Plugins are both used by more than 99% by default
- Only 1.8% ask Opera to confirm exit. Since most people only use a single window, this setting is very close to the warning in Firefox that you are about to close a window with more than one tab. The low number might indicate that asking by default (like Opera used to do and like Firefox still does) is annoying more people than it helps.
- A lot of people hardly use bookmarks at all (30 bookmarks and less). A lot of people use bookmarks a lot (300 bookmarks or more).
- Folders are actively used for bookmarks (the average number of folders is 17), while they are rarely used for contacts.
The browser is perhaps the most used application on the desktop, and people want it to act and look to their likings. Since almost the beginning Opera had power-users options for customizing the browser. Like myself, I’m sure many of you have your own tweaks here and there.
In addition to the above stats, also take a look at a more detailed (indepentent) usage report here.
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using
I think is due more to ignorance, rather than the fact that these features aren’t useful. I myself never heard of the Fit to width by default option, which sounds very tempting.
I also used mouse gestures for quite some time without knowing the flip-forward and flip-backward gestures. Now that I know, I use them practically exclusively.
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I use number two on and have enabled usage statsistics on three computers. So the figure should be 0.0000001 at least.
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I have ‘Confirm exit’ ON, because some smarty up there in Oslo put Close Window on Ctrl-W and Close Opera on Ctrl-Q, and as I use the keys more than the mouse, I used to nuke Opera instead of a window. Yeah, I know… standard conformity, but in this case they shouldn’t be next to each other.
Other comments…
* no browser should have a home page preset, but the user should be asked at first run which page he wants to have as his home page and whether it should open every time he loads the application.
* bookmarks I use occasionally, but what I’d like to see (now with DSL or cable being pretty much standard) is a header checking of the bookmarks, and a notification when a bookmark becomes ‘404′. This in general is a malaise of featuritis - more stuff gets added without it being thought through and implemented well - same with M2, btw.
* More on bookmarks… I think google is the biggest bookmark out there, and without internal bookmarks’ functionality being up to what is required of them today, they will probably seize to exist soon.
* Browser developers need to take a good hard look at their apps, because times have changed, browsers, though, have pretty much stayed the same. It’s time for a paradigm shift, a quantum leap, or whatever you want to call it.
using
I don’t really know what you meant by this..
We have seen a *lot* of innovation in browsers over the last few years (and not just in Opera).
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Wow, we confirm-exiters are a dying breed. I turn it on because I don’t want the close tab button on the tab itself, so the close tab x is right below the close opera x.
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I actually have to turn the flip gestures off because I keep accidentally triggering them.
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Heathen Dan, I have the same setup as you do.
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…as you have*.
I wonder why there isn’t an edit button :S
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Er, no, I use it on at least 4 computers.
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My comments crossposted from the Desktop Team’s blog post:
1) I think enabling the status bar by default is a good idea.
2) If you take away my “confirm exit” option, bad things will happen! Seriously, though - maybe a lot of people don’t use it simply because it’s off by default and perhaps don’t notice that option?
3) I love stats like this. Keep it up!
using
I think it would be interesting and also helpful for opera to know which features users changed from default. That way opera will have an idea how many users even care to change default settings.
For example, if fit-to-width was ON by default, I am sure the statistics would be different on this. The same to Fraud protection. Since it is off by default, I really doubt how many users take advantage of it.
The point I am trying to make here is that many opera features don’t make an impact unless it is clearly visible, properly advertised or ON by default.
Hope opera consider my opinion along with this user statistics.
using
How do you know if you’re one of the hundred.
Where is the “usage statistics” option?
If I’ve got it, I’ll turn it on…
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Never mind. Found it in opera:config.
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I also use confirm on exit simply because of the proximity of ctrl-w and ctrl-q. But I guess the big mass uses mostly mouse so it’s not a problem for them.
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Opera Bookmarks are great. The way they can be arranged for etc. I really wish they had some online back up facility where I could upload my bookmarks. Any change made on my browser could be reflected on my online storage.
I think that this could perhaps be done.