Jon Hicks has recently joined the Opera team as Senior Designer, and he’s looking for real-world feedback on the User Interface:

How much does Opera feel like native application on your operating system? How much does it matter to you? Those using Opera on just one platform may want it look utterly native, whereas those using it on multiple platforms might appreciate a consistent ‘family’ look. This is one of the things I’ll be looking at, and striving to find the right balance and approach.

I’ve always liked Opera. I used it for almost 7 years as my default browser [back when it had banner ads] on both Windows and Mac. It has a bevy of features that are well implemented, and very useful. The interface, however, was always a sub-par experience.

On Windows, the interface was never terrible to use, but on OS X I expect a better level of user experience. For that reason alone, I’ve gone back to Safari over the last 12 months or so.

This seems like a step in the right direction for Opera, and if they can do a really great job in future versions, I won’t hesitate to go back to it.