Restarting works, same as closing down the browser and opening fresh but I'd like to keep those tabs open and not lose them all the time.
If you set Opera to "Continue where I left off", those page aren't opened when Opera restarts?
As for "Continue where I left off", since you need to close each window one at a time in order to restart Opera I lose all tabs except for the last window I closed.
In Opera Classic this was called Sessions. Try saving your window layout as a session.
You just need to press Ctrl+Shift+X (or Opera -> Exit).
This will close all windows and keep your session as is.
Are you trying to import into Opera? From where? Most of Opera's critical data for the user is in the profile, which can be located on you computer by clicking on the Opera menu in Opera 23 (the latest stable version of Opera), and then on "About Opera."
Copy the bookmarks file from the Chrome profile into the Opera profile. You can find the location of the Opera profile on your computer by going to the Opera Menu, and clicking on About Opera.
If you want to wait, it's possible Opera 24 will have an import feature that will make it easier. Perhaps, people using Opera Next can comment on the progress of the import feature, and whether it will be in Opera 24.
Excellent solution, though for the wrong problem :-p ... the issue is to change the default search engine (i.e. w/o using a prefix) away from Google.
But thanks anyway, at least this makes using Google a bit more bearable as I'm usually searching in English but until now Opera was so "helpful" to force me to my native language.
I don't know about F2, but when hovering over addresses in the main address bar drop down list I get an 'x' on the far right (end) of the highlighted address which allows me to delete (remove) that particular address line if I click that 'x'.
Instead of turning off "check for new messages every...", you should set it to 30 minutes. If you don't IDLE (that pushes messages to you instantly) will eventually time out and you won't get any new messages until you manually check or maybe restart Opera.
... Too bad the designers don't streamline this and make it clear for new users.
There should be an area for Default Programs. Music, text, and video programs would cover it for most of us.
While it's a nice idea, code development has ended for the "old" Presto Opera desktop browser series (through 12.xx) other than urgent security patches... all real development and improvements are focused on the new "Blink" Opera series.
Latest version for Windows is Opera 12.17 (based on Presto). This version contains security patches, so I advise you to update your browser to 12.17.
Meanwhile, keep an eye on Opera Blogs. Opera is building a new browser based on Chromium/Blink, and Opera 12 will receive no more updates (other than security updates eventually). New functionality will be announced in the blogs. If the option to reload a page automatically is implemented again, you'll read it there.