Nope, I assume everyone here knows the difference.

Disable javascript and :
* The great majority of ads (served by ad networks) disappear. You don't even need adblockers with a decent script blocker, it's also more efficient (whitelist vs blacklist).
* Most tracking disappears too.
* Exploit kits like Angler fail. They fall back on Javascript to cycle which plugin to exploit (Java, Silverlight, Flash, and co). No JS, no exploit.
* Your CPU, and RAM thank you because developers are lazy and bloat pages with inefficient and buggy code.
* Websites more often than not (when they don't break completely :P) become more usable! No animated menus, no shiny new trick to show off interactivity... Good ol' HTML+CSS brings back sanity and is good for my eyes and nerves.

Well I'm sure people can add even more things. So yeah, many disable Javascript for good reasons.

Obviously because the new (15 and later) Opera isn't comparable to the older one. It's not the engine that matters but what the developers do with it. Presto Opera had a lot of built-in features (vertical tabs, resource blocker, configuration of the UI via drag&drop, notes, etc...) that can only be found via unsatisfying extensions that often break with updates in other major browsers.

I'm in the same mindset as you are about this whole affair it seems.

I think at some point the Hugos were a great aid to discover SF of quality. And it still is if you're looking for old works.

But nowadays, this type of awards has lost much of its weight in promoting new authors/novels. If you're interested in SF you're probably better off checking reader reviews, not the list of Hugo/Nebula Awards.

I have the same experience, CD and DVD drives almost always fail me within 1-2 years.

The thing is I almost never use them, since I rely mainly on network and USB flash drives, but the one time when I do need to read/write a CD it's more often than a not a bad surprise.

Now I have abandonned altogether all optical drives, they are too flaky and unreliable for me.

If your daughter knows how to install Linux, which nowadays isn't very hard depending on the distro, you can always check their site.

Most major distros provide a list of hardware that should be compatible, to avoid having to mess with drivers and such.

Here are a couple of links :
http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/desktop/
http://community.linuxmint.com/hardware
https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn

While it does add some Opera features, Vivaldi is based on the Blink rendering engine, exactly like the new Opera (15+) So don't expect a lean browser : 35 MB for the 32-bit Windows installer... A far cry from old Opera which as you said and contrary to all the people criticizing it because of all those "useless" features, still was much lighter than any major modern browser.

I think the extension framework is a great way to add obscure or uncommon features to a browser BUT there's a tendency today to cut on built-in features. Extensions are often not as well maintained or of professional quality, they often break when the browser is updated, and might be considered a security risk by many. That's why having a browser with power user features (vertical tabs, tab stacking, domain blocker, developer tools, etc...) built-in is very interesting for me.

A lot of your Firefox extensions (Ghostery, NoScript, AdBlock, FlashBlock, CookieManager, referrer disabled, cache management) and more (disable CSS, disable HTML5 audio/video/plugins, Strict HTTPS, User Agent spoofing, etc..) can be replaced by one extension on Chrome : uMatrix.

Hell, you can even simulate Lynx like you want by disabling everything and only plain text will show up with only one click (All square in the matrix).

All of that with the added security of Chrome's built-in sandbox...

No crashes here with this update (41.0.2272.76-1).

I've been using Chrome for at least 3 years on Linux and it never crashed for me on. YMMV though because I disable all plugins, only have one extension running and filter Javascript via uMatrix.

But this update did bring a rather annoying bug : it doesn't save/restore the maximized state from the previous session...

Not to criticize lightweight distros but if you want are concerned about disk space you might be better off with a minimal install of a major distro then adding whatever you need (DE, apps, etc...).

In my case I'm using a minimal Debian (netinstall or small ISO works, then disable all tasks in advanced configuration) with XFCE and it's as "lightweight" as I need it to be. Just be sure to disable automatic installation of the recommended dependencies when installing the DE and you should be fine. (--no-install-recommends parameter if using apt-get).

Or maybe, just maybe... The more obscure the OS the less bugs are discovered.

Not saying OpenBSD security policy and practices isn't a good thing, but it might be less of a factor than its low market share (Security through minority).

The old Opera (based on Presto) had vertical tabs without the need for any extension. It was one of the things that kept me using it for years even after it was dropped by its company.

In my mind it still is the best and simplest implementation of vertical tabs in any browser I've tried. I've since switched to Chrome. I use bookmarks in a temporary folder instead of vertical tabs with the Bookmark All tabs feature. It's not as efficient but is enough most of the time. One of the benefits is that this system is less resource intensive (having a lot of tabs opened can be a serious memory hog).

With widescreen monitors becoming the norm I have difficulties understanding why vertical tabs aren't becoming at least a standard option of modern browsers. You shouldn't need an extension for something so basic.

The real successor to HTTP Swictboard isn't really uBlock but uMatrix.

It still features the option of blacklisting via Host files, but is mainly focused on content blocking via the matrix UI. Honestly I don't even bother with any ad blocking extension anymore, it's just that powerful. And I always prefer the whitelist approach (block everything, allow a few), it makes much better sense on the long run.

My extensions on Chrome comes down to only two :
* uMatrix (only using custom rules, not hosts files)
* custom Speed Dial-like extension to replace the useless default new tab

Sigh... Your comparison doesn't make sense at all.

ReactOS is at best in an alpha state and will probably stay this way for a long time. So there's no way it could have that many users... It doesn't work decently for any application.

PC-BSD is simply a branch of FreeBSD which has been around for much longer and is definitely in a much better state. It is productive.

Actually while preserving "tweets" might seem pointless to you, in hundreds of years it will give an insight in our culture that might be pretty interesting.

For example did you know that one of the most numerous finds from antique Greece are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_tablet ? They were pretty much at the level of the "crap" you find on Internet and they are found almost everywhere : temples, burial sites, tombs, etc.. And the greeks back then seemed to be as vain as we are : sex, money, power.

I think it's amazing that through pointless stuff such as this (compared to say an original of The Republic), we get so much information on the daily life and preocupations of people so long gone.

So yeah let's save the tweets too !

There is only one worth mentioning (the others simply don't block JS all the time) : https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/%C2%B5matrix/ogfcmafjalglgifnmanfmnieipoejdcf?hl=en
I haven't checked it on the mobile version but it's worth checking. It can block everything from plugins, CSS, Images to Javascript or even HTML5 video/audio. Can enforce HTTPS on all sites, and allows the use of pre-defined hosts lists. And it has a much cleaner and easier GUI than NoScript.