You can test Opera for a full 30 user days, not calendar days. This means that if you do not use Opera for a period of time, the counter won't go down.
The evaluation version of Opera is fully functional. The registration code you receive upon purchase removes the time lock and gives access to other sites than Opera Software's.
To open a document in a new window, press SHIFT + Enter or hold down SHIFT and use the mouse to click on a link.
Turn "Automatic Window Tile" in "Preferences/Generic..." off if you want to open documents in the background.
Popular feature: To open a document in the background, press SHIFT + CTRL + Enter or hold SHIFT and CTRL and use the mouse to click on a link.
If you have lost your menu bar, pressing CTRL + F11 brings it back.
If the warning before submitting forms annoys you, go to "Preferences/Security..." and uncheck the option in "Show an Alert Before...".
Under "Navigation/Set Home..." you can define a Global Home Page, as well as a home page for the active window.
Opera Software offers a free web-based e-mail service called OperaMail. Please go to http://www.operamail.com if you wish to open an account.
Press CTRL + B to gain quick access to all of Opera's keyboard shortcuts. This can dramatically speed up the way you navigate in documents.
Opera doesn't support .PAC (proxy auto configuration) files. You'll need to read the file manually and extract the proxy server from there.
Opera's "Preferences/Default Browser..." is much more customizable and userfriendly than the default browser feature in Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator. Here, you get to select exactly which protocols and file types you wish Opera to be the default browser for.
A lot of the most popular plug-ins around work with Opera when installed correctly. Please view the Help or http://www.operasoftware.com/support/instplug.htm
Opera stores its history in a file called "global.dat". Visited links are storted in "vlink.dat". Cookies are stored in "cookies.dat". Delete these files if you want to start anew with Opera.
If you enable the "Offline Browser Mode" in the "File..." menu or in "Preferences/Cache...", Opera will not try to go online but retrieve the documents from the cache.
To toggle the docked Hot List, press CTRL + F2 or right-click on the Hot List icon in the toolbar.
You can import your Internet Explorer Favorites by clicking on the Hot List's mini menu ("File/Insert Internet Explorer Favorites...").
You can import your Netscape Bookmark files by by clicking on the Hot List's mini menu ("File/Insert File...").
To add a bookmark, just press CTRL + T or select the option from the "Lists" menu. The bookmark will be added to the currently active folder.
Press "H" to see the current window history, or check your cache in "Window/Special Window/Cache".
If you think you have discovered a bug in Opera, please report it to us here: http://www.operasoftware.com/bugreport.html
For Speech Reader compatibility, go to "Prefrences/Hot List..." and enable the appropriate option. Under Preferences/Document Appearnce you can also enable 'Invert Marked Text' to make it easier for Screen Readers to identify the text.
If you use Windows 95/Windows 98/Windows NT 4.0, we suggest you use the built-in Dial-Up Networking to connect to your Internet Service Provider if it is possible.
Opera can read newsgroups only online or from the cache. A full newsreader is under development.
Opera does Java! However, you'll need to download Sun's Java Plug-in 1.1.2 from Sun Microsystems' site at: http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/download/windows.html. More on that in the Help files.
If you are interested in Opera for MacOS, BeOS, Psion, Linux and the like, please visit our Project Magic page via our web site at http://www.operasoftware.com/alt_os.html for the latest updates on these version's development!
The font on the new Hot List can now be changed via "Preferences/Hot List..." under "Custom".
We recommend not having too large a Disk Cache. 4-5 MB are about the best option.
If you have problems running Opera, try enabling "Synchronous DNS" under "Preferences/Advanced...".
You can switch off both cookies and referrer logging. Simply go to "Preferences/Advanced..." and leave the two boxes unchecked.
It is a very good idea to backup your Hot List from time to time. Make a copy to floppy disk of the file named "opera3.adr" which is located in the main Opera program directory. The default location is C:\Program Files\Opera\opera3.adr
If you want to disable JavaScript, you need to uncheck the box "Enable Scripting Languages" in "Preferences/Multimedia...".
If you want to fit more on one page upon printing, you can reduce the scaling via "File/Print Scale and Margins...".
If you want to let Opera tell you when it's finished with the loading of a page or a file download, got to "Preferences/Sounds...". There you can determine which sound should be played.
A quick and useful shortcut is "G" which toggles your graphics.
To enter a URL directly either press CTRL + N or F2.
To remove the "Confirm Exit" dialog, go to "Preferences/Generic..." and uncheck that option.
Did you know that by pressing "F1" (or by going to "Help/Contents...") you can access Opera's Help System with a wealth of information?
To cancel a download, click on the red button at the left side of the line or use the right mouse button ("Cancel Transfer").
You can open HTML documents by simply dragging them from your file manager (Explorer, File Manager, etc.) onto the Opera workspace.
A right-click and "Get" on a Hot List folder opens all items in that folder.
If you would like to subscribe to our one-way English-only newsletter, please do so at: http://www.operasoftware.com/mailinglist.html
You can save your Opera desktop state (including windows and history) in Opera's ".win" files. These files can also be loaded while Opera is running. To save your window settings, go to "Prefences/Save Window Settings".
To access local files, just press CTRL + N to get a new window and then C:\ and press Enter. You can use this for every drive you'd like to access.
By defining the Opera user directory in "Preferences/Advanced...", all Opera user files except the "Opera.ini" file will be stored in that directory.
Opera makes a backup of your old version (including your Hot List) upon installation. This will be placed in the "backup" folder in Opera's directory. If you are happy with the latest version, you can delete the files in your backup directory.
You can use the docked Hot List also to drag and drop bookmarks. Dropping them on a window will open the document in that window. Dropping them on an empty space will open a new window.
Under "Preferences/Generic..." and "Personal Information" you can also enter personal information for quick retrieval in forms via the right mouse button.
The Problem Dialog box can be removed by editing your "Opera.ini" under [USER PREFS]. Enter "SHOW PROBLEM DIALOG=0". "Opera.ini" is located in your Windows directory.
You can view our entire support site offline. Please download the file from http://www.operasoftware.com/support.html and run the self-decompressing ".exe" file on your PC.
CTRL + G makes any illegible site legible by using your own preferences rather than the document's preferences.
You can zoom in and out using the + and - keys on the numeric keypad.
ALT + 1 sorts the Hot List entries according to name. Repeated pressing cycles through "Ascending", "Decending" and "User definable".
You can save entire web pages using "File/Save Page and Images As...". A tip for easier organizing of these saved web pages is to create a seperate folder for each of these pages and save them in this folder.
Registering Opera is the best way to ensure continued development and improvement of the product.
The "Catchup" option in News marks all news articles as read, so that with your next reload only the new articles are listed.
Under "Preferences/Generic..." you can decide how you would like Opera to start. Please view the Help for more information on this subject.
If you prefer your Status Bar (where the URLs are shown) at the top, you can set this under "Preferences/Button- and Statusbar...".
Developers may appreciate the option to display the window size. To enable this function, go to "Preferences/Document Window...".
If your images have a pattern or don't look right, check if your zoom is set to 100%.
Opera can only send mail, but not yet retrieve it. In order to send mail directly from within Opera, please go to "Preferences/Mail..." and enter your name, e-mail address and mail server. You can also configure Opera to use other e-mail clients in this menu.
If you want access to Opera's News Server, you'll have to go to "Preferences/News..." and enter "opera.nta.no" as the news server.
The "Turbo Mode", selectable in "Preferences/Cache..." makes image loading faster, but uses more memory to provide this.
If you cannot connect to the Web, try enabling "Synchronous DNS" under "Preferences/Advanced...".
Handy Tip: If you surf Search Engine listings and want to load lots of pages, disable graphics loading in "Preferences/Multimedia..." and hold SHIFT + CTRL while you use the mouse to click on the links, to load them in the background.
"F6" tiles windows horizontally [top-down). SHIFT + F6 tiles them vertically (left-right).
To remove annoying ads in frames, click on the main frame and maximize it using the right mouse buttons ("Frame/Maximize").
Compass (http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Way/5500/new.html) as well as PowerMarks (http://www.kaylon.com) are excellent boorkmark utilities that work well with Opera. Both of them are evaluation copies that need to be purchased.
If you want free wheel mouse functionality without having to purchase a new mouse, check MouseImp at http://www.tv4studios.com
The preconfigured Hot List that comes with Opera already provides hundreds of interesting links for you to enjoy. If you have a site you'd like to suggest we add to it, please let us know.
CTRL + J is a really cool feature. It shows all links in a frame or document. You can then cycle between them, but also copy them to the clipboard or insert them as a separate Hot List folder.
If you use "My Yahoo!" from Opera, make sure you check the box on My Yahoo that says "Remember my name and password." Also make sure cookie logging is enabled in Opera under "Preferences/Advanced...".
If you get a message telling you that a script wants to access your password, and you don't like this at all, ask the web master of the site(s) to stop doing JavaScript syntax checks on passwords. You cannot disable this option in Opera.
At present you cannot selectively accept or reject cookies. We are working on an integrated cookie manager for a future version of Opera, though.
If you wish to easily remove your cache and cookies and history, you might find Cache and Cookie Washer, a shareware program, helpful. Please look here: http://www.webroot.com/washop.htm
To disable annoying popup windows, go to "Preferences/Multimedia..." and disable scripting languages. This will prevent JavaScript generated windows from opening automatically.
Go!Zilla doesn't "integrate" with Opera. However, if you set Go!Zilla to monitor the clipboard, it will "capture" any link that you save to the clipboard from Opera and roar into action.
Go!Zilla: A default set of file extensions are specified in Go!Zilla to keep it from capturing all link addresses saved to the clipboard. You can edit this list.
A cool wheelmouse tool is FreeWheel. You can get it here: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/2060/freewheel.html
A nice little tool to get rid of ads is Siemens' WebWasher. Read more about it here: http://www.siemens.de/servers/wwash
