>1. Why pay for a browser?

The ad-sponsored (free) version works fine.

>2. Especially one that does not have the basic features of IE?

What features?

Perhaps this is the reason I can't get it to work correctly in the UniversalThread.

I have two problems here:

a. I can't expand/contract threads (the "treeview" feature)

b. Opera doesn't show the buttons at the top.

>3. Many ads and limited viewing in the free version.

You have, indeed, less viewing space. You can overcome this temporarily by switching to full-screen.

>4. It cannot handle many sites.

It handles most sites, as far as I could see. The UniversalThread causes trouble, as well as a few other sites.

>5. It does not have sufficient Java support.

I am not sure about this, so I won't give my opinion.

>6. The navigation tools are poorly designed.

Navigation is much better designed than in IE, once you get accustomed to the new interface. In Opera, you have many options that are not available in IE. Some great features include:

Open all shortcuts in a single "Favourites" folder with a single command.

Save configuration of open windows, to restore later.

If you Ctrl-Shift-Click on a hyperlink, it will open in a new window, without bringing the window to the front. Great for quickly opening several links on a single page.

Opera will highlight which windows are finished loading, so you don't have to cycle through the windows all the time, to see which windows are finished loading.

You can change the zoom ratio for any window. This zooms everything, not only text.

Why don't you try it out yourself (but not against the UT!), and see whether it is, or isn't, "love at first Site [sic]", as Opera claims.

Hilmar.

Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)