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Linux 
I’ve been waiting to see what Opera had in store for us in version 10, and it looks like everyone is finally getting a peak. In fact I’m a bit surprised by what has been revealed so far, but in a good way. For awhile it seemed like other browsers were trying to find their own ways to adopt features that were first introduced in Opera, but the opposite never really happened. By that I mean Opera never really went after the handy features that other browsers were introducing.
What features am I talking about? Inline spell checking and auto-updating. Last year I covered some of the things that I really wanted to see included in future versions of Opera, and those two things were definitely on my list. Opera 10 Alpha 1 is the first version of their browser to incorporate these features.
Here are some of the other highlights in this release:
- Presto 2.2 Rendering Engine
- Performance boost
- 100/100 and pixel-perfect on the Acid3 test
- Opera Mail improvements, including rich text composition and delete after X days
- Widget Improvements on Linux
The million dollar question is whether Opera is still doing enough to attract new users, or whether they’re fighting a losing battle? I found Opera 10 to be more responsive than any of the other browsers, and the pages felt like they were displayed faster as well. Does that mean I’m going to make it my primary browser? I’ve really become accustomed to the extensions that Firefox has to offer though, and it would be hard for me to use only Opera without some of that important functionality.
What do you think about Opera? Did you expect more from Opera 10? Guess we’ll have to wait and see whether they have a few more tricks up their sleeve.
Get Opera 10 Alpha 1 for Windows, Mac or Linux
Thanks Cody!
Faster than Chrome? Either way can’t take it for site compatibility reasons (Yahoo! Mail never worked quick and stable for me –barely usable at most). Not as fond of Opera anymore now that I’ve used Chrome w/ most the useful Opera features, and better site compatibility, and some Opera doesn’t have (Fx3 style addressbar bookmarking button, combined url/search box…).
100% Acid3 is pretty cool. They’ll be one of the first to release with that support (if they release before IE8 then they’ll pass Acid3 w/ stable release b4 IE passes Acid2 stable). I forget — does Safari have stable release out passing Acid3 already? Chrome should pass this too at some point on Safari’s coattails (currently passing 79 on devChannel build).
Safari sure does their updates fast. Opera 9.5 is just as new as Fx3.
I too was wondering if they’ve got more tricks (features) up their sleeves for this release. Well, their site certainly implies it. The shiny graph reads: “Alpha: Engine,” “Beta: New Features,” “Final: Release.” Also looks like the Beta and final will be in 09.
[opera.com]
“The million dollar question is whether Opera is still doing enough to attract new users, or whether they’re fighting a losing battle?”
I’ve tried very hard to use this browser, but finally gave up. Most of my favorite website would not render at all, and some did but in a very weired way.
It’s Help structure is not user-friendly and getting information at their forums is useless. People will not help you at all.
I think it has to do with culture. They are Europeans and don’t understand the culture of Latin America or the U.S. They are too cold to understand your needs. Maybe that’s why their market share has remained stagnant over the years.
I prefer to use Flock or Firefox and leave Opera for more patient users or from European extraction.
I’ve been using Opera since 9 alpha version i.e more than a full year. It’s my main browser. Peregrine (10) shows now only a few of what will be its features. And for the million dollars question, Opera team has its (small) market in browsers war, but large enough to continue developping this high quality one. Why would they stop? Knowing furthermore that Opera is is Europe, as in SKorea, an “official browser” in some states.
Not only it’s one of the fastest, or even the fastest, but it’s reliable, it’s got a high security level, and it’s so nice to use.
Sites that don’t render with Opera become more and more rare.
It’s really an exception when I’ve got to run FFox for site compatibility. Even don’t remember when. Opera’s worth a million dollars. Just let time to time.
Have I to mention I’m european, Mr Upegui?
Still no extensions!?
Will they ever learn?
I used to look forward to new opera releases until the company started placing all its efforst on bells and whistles like widgets and and their web tools rather than trying to improve the basics of the browser itself.
Who really cares whether it totally passes acide 3 test . Only some geek, I guess .
TOTALLY AGREED!
Me the same. I had temporarily switched to chrome for extra speed in Gmail and ajaxified websites, but now with the performance improvement, I will definitely make Opera my first choice option as it’s more comfortable to use and easier on eyes than any other browsers.
Besides, in a few months time, things will get better and better. Remember it’s just an alpha release; it means:
- There will be still more performance improvements in the near future
- More amazing features.
- Bugs will be ironed out.
It’s interesting that they will be adding features in the Beta stage because I thought that was purely for polishing up bugs and existing features.
I’ve actually had an opposite experience with their forum. I found their community to be helpful, and that’s where I’ve gotten a lot of the tips and tricks.
It does have a high security level, but that would likely change once they got a larger market share. We are seeing the same sort of thing with Firefox now where more security concerns are arising as it continues to gain market share.
@Ryan, Carlos, Ky
I’m really happy to see ther are still objective people. Thanks to them all!
@Ryan
Would you mean that in a close future Opera could have a market share much more large than now? In this case, it’s true that security
would become its main concern.
For their help structure, same thing for me, I’ve always had a good experience in Op.Community Forums.People there really help each other and its plenty of ideas.
Other thing: Bravo for the “Giveaways” days !
I think it’s possible that Opera will gain in market share as more people continue to look for alternative browsers. Once people make the first switch there’s a good chance that they would be willing to switch again.
I don’t think so. They can’t win the browser war without extensions.
@Pieter
Many popular extensions are built into Opera already, and i’m sure the beta will bring even more features which will take the place of extensions in firefox.
Sure, allowing people to make their own extensions and their own scripts makes firefox popular, but it also decreases the general quality of the browser as many of those scripts may be badly/inefficiently coded. By keeping development of the browser to themselves, Opera can make sure that all the features that are there do work perfectly, even if the amount of features is less.
I’ve been using Opera since around version 7.5 or so, and I’ve never found that I needed to use all the scripts and extensions that other people rave about in firefox.
How about…
- Adblock Plus
- Gmail Notifier
- Google Reader Watcher
- The new Google Toolbar (generates a Google Chrome-like page when opening a new tab)
- Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer
- Diigo (social bookmarking tool)
Can I get all of that built-in to Opera without having to perform some black magic with INF files and plugin folders? Of course it’s luxury, but why dump all of that in favor of Opera if you can keep those features in Firefox?
Maybe they could make Opera compatible with Firefox extensions? Wouldn’t that be easier to implement than to write thousands of extensions for Opera? Opera can already use Firefox plugins, like Flash.
Same here…I’ve tried with so many versions of Opera. I’ve must have installed and uninstalled Opera 20 times with each time hoping it will be my new browser. But, I always uninstall it and go back to Firefox.
Firefox has inline spell checking better which is my primary reason why I use Firefox. Posting in forums is so easy with Firefox where misspelled words are always underlined.
Second, I’ve never used Opera for more than 20 minutes without running across a bad webpage …even from popular website like Microsoft and Dell.
Firefox webpages always works. Opera continually disappoints me.
Pieter
Actually, and I don’t mean Opera 10 alpha nor beta, Opera contains an awesome pop-up blocker, even more, you can configure each page in opera to block ads or other bandwidth demanding content or whatever areas on the page you don’t want to render each time, even more, if you close a tab or leave a pop-up unopened you can always re-open it using the trash can menu.
Gmail plugins, ok, i give this point to ya, but that’s is not a high added value to keeping a tab with each page opened. But ok, you have one point.
A google toolbar? Chrome looking tabs? well, use Chrome instead, or try filling your browser with toolbars and toolbars that only reduces your web experience area. if you want to google just use the google searh textbox or type your search in the address bar and press enter, or type a g before the search in the address bar, even more, want to look in yahoo? type a y; or create your own key letters for personalized searches all around the web, even in that blog you like the most.
Foxmarks bookmarks Sync: Ok, use Opera sync, just open an account in opera community, ave your own username/password credential and let all your browser instances, at home, office, laptop and Mobile phone synchronized, not only bookmarks, typed address history, notes, speed dial and searches. I mean, remember that age you searched for in the office and you thought, that’s useful for my house? ok, now you can retrieve it at home.
Diigo: well quite a good add in for your web experience, but try using notes, keep track of those sites you have visited, did you like that paragraph or quote, selected it and send it to a note; wanna send it to a friend, ok just paste a note in his/her FB wall, ad go ahead.
Ok, I’m sounding like a priest. But I always wonder why FF is good and everybody says extensions, and I say, ok, so naked FF is worthless, try naked Opera.
Now I start spellchecking it with Opera 10 built-in spell checker
Is it as simple as right-clicking the area you want to block?
I for one use this add-on a lot, so there’s no way I could do without it. Same with the Google Reader plug-in.
You can hide the Google Toolbar by right-clicking it. By doing so, I can keep the “Chrome-ish new tab” feature without having the toolbar clutter up my screen.
Sounds like a lot of hassle.
Oh, and I started used another extension: RSS Ticker. Does Opera let you do that?
Nope. Naked Firefox still beats naked Opera in my opinion because of one thing: the user interface. It looks a lot prettier.
Frank Silva:
Have you used Opera? Firefox beats Opera? It can not, neither naked, nor with the memory eating clothes(extensions!)
Frank Silva:
No, its simpler! You right click ones and block all content you want to! No more right clicking every element!
Frank Silva:
There’s a GMail notifier widget for Opera that can notify of mails for not only 1 but multiple account. And yes, you can also use the inbuilt mail client! Google Reader? Opera users do not need that! We have inbuilt RSS reader.
Lesson: Use Opera before saying something about it!
The memory eating issue is your only valid argument. Indeed, that’s one of Firefox’s biggest problems at the moment. But overall I’m on their side.
Is it able to block iframes, divs and any element you want based on a pattern such as [mysite.com]*?
I don’t want a widget. I want an e-mail indicator on my toolbar.
Please, don’t tell me what I need. Google Reader is a useful product because of its sharing features, portability (access on any computer) and its clean no-nonsense interface. Don’t try to force me into Opera’s RSS system. I can also get a built-in RSS reader for Firefox thanks to their extensions if I wanted to, so that’s no valid argument.
Opera’s pretty great but Chrome wins.
Same story: no extensions, no party.
I’ve actually found myself becoming less and less dependent on extensions in Firefox. At one point I know I had like 20 installed, and now I’m down to just 3. I actually think at this point I could switch to another browser and not miss Firefox all that much.
Really, Ryan? I thought you were one of us power users.
Don’t you miss being plugged in to Gmail, Google Reader and your social bookmarking services? I would. I have my bookmarks backed up securely by Xmarks. I use the KwiClick to watch videos while surfing the web. Before I knew KwiClick existed, I had to capture the FLV URL of the player using Adblock Plus (yet another extension) and open it with Media Player Classic. I use Read It Later to keep track of articles I don’t have time for so that I can look at them later. And lastly, I have RSS Ticker scroll the latest headlines in a toolbar.
I think these things do make people more productive. But then again, not everyone has the same needs.
I know some of the stuff I’d miss, but things like XMarks now work across Firefox, IE, and Safari. Plus it seems like there’s a lot of things that can now be done using bookmarklets, which is nice because they don’t add any overhead to the browser when they’re not being used. KwiClick, however, is one add-on that I have been getting used to having, so that might be hard to give up.