Identify As versus Mask As
Paul Bartlett
Opera is my preferred browser, and I use Internut Horror only as a last
resort.
A few minutes ago I tried to browse a site to get information on the
status of a repair problem for my home telephone. I specified to
"Identify as" IE, but the attempt failed. But when I specified to
"Mask as" IE, the attempt succeeded. It is not clear to me what is the
difference between "Identify as" and "Mask as." Thanks.
--
Paul Bartlett
Eik
wrote:
> It is not clear to me what is the
> difference between "Identify as" and "Mask as."
'Identify as' uses the user agent string of another browser but still adds
the string 'Opera' along with the version number so that websites who
really want to know if it's Opera can still test for it. It's intended for
sites that just mindlessly check for MSIE or Gecko.
The 'mask as' options use the other user agent strings but don't add
'Opera' to them, so that there's nothing to suggest it's Opera rather than
the browser it claims to be. At least not in the user agent string.
John H Meyers
> 'Identify as' uses the user agent string of another browser but still
> adds the string 'Opera' along with the version number so that websites
> who really want to know if it's Opera can still test for it. It's
> intended for sites that just mindlessly check for MSIE or Gecko.
> The 'mask as' options use the other user agent strings but don't add
> 'Opera' to them, so that there's nothing to suggest it's Opera rather
> than the browser it claims to be. At least not in the user agent string.
To put the same in "friendly" terms, we might say that
"Identify" means to wear the uniform of the other browser,
but not to hide one's "Opera face," whereas "Mask as"
means to also put on the face mask,
so no one can see who you are at all :)
You can visit certain diagnostic sites
to see the stuff which browsers send to visited sites:
http://showip.net/ (try identifying as Firefox vs. Internet Explorer)
http://www.nirsoft.net/show_my_ip_address.php
--
Whiskers
'Browser Spy' reveals what your browser is telling the planet. For
example, comparing 'Identify as' with 'Masquerade as' I get these
results:-
<http://browserspy.dk/useragent.php>
Identify as IE:
UserAgent from header Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; X11; Linux
i686; en-GB) Opera 10.60
User Agent from JavaScript
Browser string Opera 5.x
Operating System Linux/Unix
Browser name
Browser version
Identify as IE (javascript enabled):
UserAgent from header Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; X11; Linux
i686; en-GB) Opera 10.60
User Agent from JavaScript Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; X11;
Linux i686; en-GB) Opera 10.60
Browser string Opera 5.x
Operating System Linux/Unix
Browser name Yes - version opera
Browser version Yes - version 10.6
Masquerade as IE:
UserAgent from header Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1;
en-GB)
User Agent from JavaScript
Browser string Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.x
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP
Browser name
Browser version
Masquerade as IE (javascript enabled):
UserAgent from header Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1;
en-GB)
User Agent from JavaScript Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows
NT 5.1; en-GB)
Browser string Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.x
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP
Browser name Yes - version msie
Browser version Yes - version 8
--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~
Ed Jay
I wonder why Opera doesn't allow us to 'mask-as' from a menu or custom
button?
--
Ed Jay (remove 'M' to reply by email)
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Peter Krefting
> I wonder why Opera doesn't allow us to 'mask-as' from a menu or custom
> button?
"Mask as" is only available as a site-specific preference, you cannot
enable it globally. I'm not sure if it is possible to set site-specific
preferences from custom menu items or buttons.
--
\\// Peter Krefting - Core Technology Developer, Opera Software ASA
Ed Jay
>Ed Jay <ed...@aes-intl.com>:
>
>> I wonder why Opera doesn't allow us to 'mask-as' from a menu or custom
>> button?
>
>"Mask as" is only available as a site-specific preference, you cannot
>enable it globally. I'm not sure if it is possible to set site-specific
>preferences from custom menu items or buttons.
Exactly my point.
Whiskers
> Peter Krefting wrote:
>
>>Ed Jay <ed...@aes-intl.com>:
>>
>>> I wonder why Opera doesn't allow us to 'mask-as' from a menu or custom
>>> button?
>>
>>"Mask as" is only available as a site-specific preference, you cannot
>>enable it globally. I'm not sure if it is possible to set site-specific
>>preferences from custom menu items or buttons.
>
> Exactly my point.
Earlier versions of Opera did allow blanket user-agent spoofing from the
'Preferences' dialogues (and for a while the default was IE!). It's now
tucked away in <opera:config#UserAgent|SpoofUserAgentID> and explained at
<http://www.opera.com/support/usingopera/operaini/#ua>.
The Opera menu that appears when you right-click on an inactive part of a
web page, includes 'Edit Site Preferences'; 'Browser identification' is
there under 'Network'.
If you want something in a toolbar to give quick access to changing the
user-agent, 'Tools - Appearance - Buttons - Preferences' includes a
drop-down list to 'Identify as ...'; drag and drop that to your 'Personal
Bar' and you get a choice of Opera, Firefox, or IE - but only 'spoofing'
not the more convincing 'masquerade'. This seems to be a relic from
earlier versions (I can remember having that 'button' on my toolbar, back
before the masquerade options were introduced and when there were more web
sites that deliberately or ignorantly delivered garbage to browsers
identified as Opera from a crude sniff of the user-agent header).
Somewhat slicker, is a 'Smiley Indentify' toggle button from here
<http://operawiki.info/CustomButtons#quickprefs> - one version includes
the masquerade options. <http://operawiki.info/Opera> is worth adding to
your bookmarks :))
For myself, I agree with Opera's intention that we should only spoof or
masquerade as a different browser on those few sites that refuse to work
sensibly otherwise, and this is best done using the 'Site Preferences'
dialogue box.
mark.g.o...@gmail.com
you can Identify as -
to select mask as - Rt click the page in question, select edit site preferences, then under the network tab ther is a dropdown selection
JJ
> On Friday, July 30, 2010 4:16:55 AM UTC-4, Peter Krefting wrote:
>> Ed Jay <ed...@aes-intl.com>:
>>
>>> I wonder why Opera doesn't allow us to 'mask-as' from a menu or custom
>>> button?
>>
>> "Mask as" is only available as a site-specific preference, you cannot
>> enable it globally. I'm not sure if it is possible to set site-specific
>> preferences from custom menu items or buttons.
>
> preferences you can Identify as - to select mask as - Rt click the page
> in question, select edit site preferences, then under the network tab
> ther is a dropdown selection
It's the dialog that actually do the changes - internally by the program.
The button merely opens that dialog.
The closest Opera Commands related to this are: "Edit site preferences"
(opens the dialog for currently open website) and "Manage sites" (opens the
dialog for list of all saved sites). There's no command for accessing the
Site Preference database directly (i.e.: without using any dialog).