By Lou Dolinar
First in a series
Updated Feb. 14, 2006

There’s a lot to be said for using all Microsoft, all the time. Opt for Windows XP, and you have the broadest selection of software in history available to you, compatibility, and unmatched power for routine applications.

Your new computer probably has an all-Microsoft collection of software--most likely, Microsoft Works, Internet Explorer, and Outlook Express email. Not good enough for you? Switch to Microsoft’s industrial strength Office suite.

Of course there’s a downside to Microsoftness. Legions of hackers regard Microsoft as the Evil Empire, and write scads of viruses and worms to express their displeasure. More seriously, perhaps, adware and spy ware authors look at Microsoft software as a unparalleled marketing opportunity, and write particularly evil programs that hijack your home page, inundate your screen with pop ups, and crash your computer.

A while back we looked at one of the alternatives to all-Microsoft, all the time: The Linux operating system. Not only do you get rid of Windows altogether, you can collect a series of applications that more or less mimic the functionality of Microsoft’s offerings.

If you’re not ready for such a radical step, there are some in-between measures you can take. Since I finished the Linux project, I’ve been collecting and evaluating a number of different programs that can substitute for Microsoft’s while ducking some of its more egregious security issues. I’m not going to argue that any of these are “more secure” in some theoretical sense. Rather, these programs, because they’re not common, are not as frequently targeted. Most are free or pretty close to it.

We’ll start this week with exhibit A, the Opera Web browser (http://www.opera.com/). Opera’s a long time favorite of the different-is-better set, and unlike most of the companies that have challenged Microsoft’s core businesses, the firm’s a money-maker. The program comes in two version, an ad-supported model that interjects ads into the menu bar at the top of the screen. These use Google’s keyword technology, so that if you’re browsing a web page that’s relevant to a Google advertiser, the spiel shows up unobtrusively in the menu bar. A small price to pay, in my opinion. Alternately, the ad-free version costs $39.

So why Opera, when IE is free and ad free? Going back a couple of years, the main pitch for Opera was that it was relatively small, under 5 megabytes, and faster than the competition. While that’s still true, in the meantime IE development has languished, and Opera’s has not, so Opera is more advanced, and feature rich, than Explorer.

For example, the program has had a built-in pop up blocker for over year before IE finally got around to similar technology. For privacy, you can set Opera to, on exit, automatically delete you cache and log of viewed pages.

There’s better support for newer standards on how pages are rendered. Windows can be saved as tabs for quick reference; you can also recall the tabs and pages in your next session. There are also lots of options for customizing the appearance of the program.

Opera included a few additional applications: A decent email program and address book, which work with the open source spell checker Gnu Aspell. There’s a client for Internet Relay Chat, that does not, unfortunately, work with AOL’s Instant Messenger. And built in search functions cover a number of options for Google, Amazon, and Ebay.

I particularly liked its note-taking feature. There’s a small panel adjacent to the main screen on which you can name and then jot down a note. The note’s automatically saved every time you create a new named note. You end up with a sequential menu of all the note’s you’ve typed to yourself.

Opera is also, as they say, cross platform: it runs on PCs, Macs, Linux, PDAs and even some cell phones. Thus, if you’re considering deploying Linux on one of your home PCs, you’ll can run the same email browser on it as you run on your Windows PC.

Still, the main reason to consider Opera and other alternative browsers is what they’re not, and they’re not Internet Explorer. They don’t include Microsoft’s Active-X technology, which is frequently exploited by the bad guys to subvert Windows. And since the Opera browser, unlike IE, isn’t directly linked to Windows, it reduces other options for unwanted tomfoolery.

I recommend that you download and try Opera. Next week we’ll look at your other main option in browsing, the Mozilla/Netscape family.