Farewell to Android
Klout is FarmVille for grown-ups
Does Flash matter on mobile?
What is Twitter?Opera has somehow remained behind the scenes in the so-called battle of the web browsers... until today. With the release of its brand new version 10, Opera has now the chance to jump on stage as it proves an excellent alternative to other more widely-used browsers.
If you've downloaded the previous beta and RC releases, you won't notice many differences in this final version. The interface and functionality remain pretty much the same, at least at first sight.
However, Opera 10 does include nice improvements compared with older versions. The first feature you'll probably notice is Speed Dial, a special page Opera 10 displays every time you open a new tab. This page is automatically generated with thumbnails that link to the websites you visit most frequently, but can also freely customized with other sites. So don't worry about a sensitive web page showing up: you can easily remove it from Speed Dial.
Another outstanding characteristic in Opera 10 is Opera Turbo, a cutting-edge technology that compresses web pages for improved loading times. According to Opera developers, it enables the browser to render pages up to 8 times faster. Opera Turbo is designed to work with slower Internet connections, so don't expect it to be any use if you're enjoying a high-speed broadband service.
Opera 10 still offers the popular Opera widgets, small desktop apps – similar to Vista sidebar gadgets or Mac widgets – with very varied purposes: from traditional pastimes to more practical to-do lists, including weather forecast tools, all sorts of games, translators, social network companions, calculators and calendars. You can easily browse all available gadgets from within Opera and download the ones you like most.
I specially liked the tab bar in Opera 10. If you hover the mouse over any tab, the browser will display a thumbnail with the content of that selected tab. But if you prefer to preview the content all of the tabs currently open in the browser, simply drag the tab bar down with your mouse and it'll be transformed into a thumbnail bar.
Opera 10 includes other minor improvements such as an inline built-in spell checker (with support for 51 languages) and an auto-update tool with which you can keep your browser up to date in an easier way. Plus, this final version is fully compatible with Web standards, according to the Acid3 test in which this version scores an impressive 100%.
So, doesn't Opera have any flaws? Like any other piece of software, of course it does. The most important missing element is Unite, the file sharing service that turned your web browser into a web server and which everyone at Opera seemed to be so excited about. Apparently it didn't make it beyond Beta 3. Finally, Opera 10 also lacks a handy feature that other browsers like Google Chrome and Firefox have implemented lately: private browsing.
Yawn. Opera still scrambles most pages, still has no one-click equivalent to Downthemall, no equivalent to Thumbnail Expander [or AutoPager etc. etc.] or AdPlus etc. etc. All this demonstrates a fatal head-in-sand attitude that will continue eroding their single digit market share. Too bad- it's a pretty browser. And, by the way, "Hover mouse over tab to see preview"? If you say so [not on my RC copy]...
infinice: it probably doesn't work for you because you're using the RC. This review is about the final version. Cheers!
Opera still lacks a decent javascript Engine, it had a 7800 ms score on my MacBook... (that and the bad points mentioned before). Did I mention it is ugly on the Mac? Come on, stop trying to reinvent the wheel Opera, just do a standard interface on every platform...
You still have to configure DownThemAll initially and to change folders and such. Opera can match nearly all Firefox EXTENSIONS with native ability (there's a comprehensive list), and has introduced nearly all major features first including tabs themselves. You can't even move the tab bar on Firecrap, and to do anything useful you have to bloat your installation up with crappy 3rd party add-ons. Firefox is out (always has been). Opera is in.
I have only found one problem with Opera 10 RC. That is Yahoo mail does not recognize the browser. Pray the final version has fixed that.
i am using opera for the last 6 or something years...and by far i havent bothered to look towards other crap browsers..... I installed the opera 10(stable v)yesterday and man this is a sure shot winner over other. and for the firefox and crappy IE 8 or chrome lovers...just think about the features like tabbed browsing and speedials, who introduced them first. guys it is opera. i checked the turbo in a pathetic 5kbps dial up connection IGN.com took 1 min 26 seconds to load completely. better check in your broadband connection and only after compare it with other browsers. finally..you dont need to install sackloads of additonal craps like firefox.
I think I've been using FireFox forever! I have known about Opera and used it quite a few times but have always gone back to FireFox. This decision was always based purely on aesthetics. I never liked the look of Opera's GUI. (I'm a designer/artist) But with version 10, I was blown away! It is beautiful. Simple, minimal yet functional, I just love it. It makes FireFox look cluttered, clumsy and just plain ugly. It was difficult leaving a strong comfort zone (FireFox), but I've done it and haven't looked back. I've suggested it to a lot my clients and they were impressed. And of course it really looks great on my new iMac 27" (i7 Quad).
I've just installed Opera 10.62 and I'm really impressed. It's fast, it works, and looks great. I like the mouse gesture feature a lot. And also the speed dial feature is really nice.
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