Reasons Why I use Opera: Reason 1: Integrated RSS Reader.

Opera has the best Integrated RSS Reader I have ever used. I have tried many other RSS Readers, but that of Opera truly rules them out. One thing with the RSS Reader of Opera is that by default, it is not shown on first install. It is only when you will subscribe to an RSS Feed that window will appear telling you that you have subscribed to Feed and from now on, you can read your Feeds from “Feeds” Menu on the menu bar. This is why I like Opera. If you are new to Opera, you will use only 60% of all the features, but as you progresses, you will discover more “hidden” features.

The architecture of the RSS Reader in Opera is really great. It is built around its integrated Mail Client. That means that Opera will read RSS Feeds as simple XML Files, but will in turn convert then into its default Mail Format. This enables you to read your feeds just like as if you were reading your mails, so that if there is any content in the Feeds, like Pictures, it will be downloaded from the remote server and displayed. Another advantage is that it makes your Feeds portable. Suppose I want to format my machine and I do not want to lose my Feeds. All that I have to do is to go to:

“LocalDrive\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Opera\Opera”

and backup the mail folder. After the format, I install Opera, and replace the default Mail folder with my backup. That’s it! I’ve got all my feeds and mails.

Another great thing about Opera is that gives you the ability to search with your Feeds and Mails. This helps me a lot by searching for words such as “Vista”, “XAML” or “WPF” within 3508 Feeds (and counting). The search feature does not stop here. Suppose that you searched for the words “Vista” and you got 64 matches. After a few updates to your Feeds, you will see that this result will be incremented by one or two. What has happened is that Opera while downloading the new feeds has seen that some of them contain the words “Vista” and so added them to your search results. When you request a search from with your Feeds and Mails, Opera will keep this search result, and will keep it incremented as new feeds come in. Truly Great.