Opera on Omid Farhang

Opera Switches to WebKit and Chromium

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:38:00 +0000

After many years of dealing with site compatibility issues, Opera found the solution: it will switch from its proprietary rendering engine (Presto) to WebKit and will be powered by Chrome’s open source version, Chromium.

“Presto is a great little engine. It’s small, fast, flexible and standards compliant while at the same time handling real-world web sites. It has allowed us to port Opera to just about any platform you can imagine. (…) It was always a goal to be compatible with the real web while also supporting and promoting open standards. That turns out to be a bit of a challenge when you are faced with a web that is not as open as one might have wanted. Add to that the fact that it is constantly changing and that you don’t get site compatibility for free (which some browsers are fortunate enough to do), and it ends up taking up a lot of resources – resources that could have been spent on innovation and polish instead,” explains an Opera employee.

Opera 12 has been released

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:36:00 +0000

Norwegian company Opera Software has released Opera 12.00 just a few minutes ago. Opera users who start the browser on their system should see update notifications displayed to them in the next couple of hours. Those who do not want to wait that long can run a manual check for updates with a click on Opera > Help > Check for Updates. The update should then be picked up by the browser and downloaded automatically to the local system.

Facebook and Opera: Facebook Browser Is Imminent

Sun, 27 May 2012 11:52:00 +0000

Mashable: Are you ready for a Facebook browser that integrates the social networking behemoth into your online life more than ever? That’s exactly what could be on the way soon, according to one report.

A Friday Pocket-lint report cites a “trusted source” that Facebook wants to buy Opera Software — manufacturers of the Opera web browser, which claims more than 200 million users worldwide. The Facebook browser would include default menu bar plugins, further permeating Facebook into users’ general web experience, according to the report.

Browser Speed Tests: Chrome 17, Firefox 10, Internet Explorer 9, and Opera 11.61

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:38:00 +0000

LifeHacker:

Chrome 17 is out with a new pre-rendering feature designed to make your pages load faster, and both Firefox and Opera have also released speedy new versions since our last round of speed tests. So, we’ve once again pitted the four most popular web browsers against each other in a battle of startup times, tab loading times, and more, with more surprising results.

Continue Reading: http://lifehacker.com/5884941/browser-speed-tests-chrome-17-firefox-10-internet-explorer-9-and-opera-1161

(Hint: As always Chrome is winner, no doubt!)

Opera 12 supports Mozilla's "Do Not Track" header

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:57:00 +0000

The H-Online: Opera has published a development snapshot of version 12 of its web browser that adds support for Mozilla’s “Do Not Track” (DNT) header. Code-named “Wahoo”, the unstable release is the first from Opera to support the DNT header, which signals web sites that the browser user wishes to opt-out of online behavioral tracking; online advertising networks use cookies and other web technologies to recognize internet users and serve them tailored advertising. Support for DNT in Opera 12 is currently disabled by default. Users can enable it in the preferences dialogue by selecting “Preferences > Advanced > Security > Ask websites not to track me”.

Are you ready for Opera 11?

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:44:00 +0000

Newest Opera browser features tab stacking, extensions, visual mouse gestures

Oslo, Norway — December 16, 2010

Opera Software debuted the newest version of its award-winning browser today. Opera 11 combines elegant design, smart updates to some of our most popular features and new ways to customize Opera to your preferences. Download it today for Windows, Mac and Linux computers from http://www.opera.com/.

What’s new

Tab stacking

Tab stacking is a better way to organize your open tabs. Simply drag one tab on top of another to create a stack. Here is a short video to introduce tab stacking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hqSGGk1YTI

Browser Market Share: October, 2010

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:11:00 +0000

Browser	Total Market Share
Microsoft Internet Explorer	59.26%
Firefox	22.82%
Chrome	8.47%
Safari	5.33%
Opera	2.28%
Opera Mini	0.95%
Netscape	0.63%
Konqueror	0.06%
Flock	0.05%
ACCESS NetFront	0.05%
Playstation	0.03%
Mozilla	0.03%
Obigo	0.01%
Danger Web Browser	0.00%
Microsoft Pocket Internet Explorer	0.00%
Blazer	0.00%
WebTV	0.00%
BlackBerry	0.00%
ANT Galio	0.00%
Lotus Notes	0.00%
iCab	0.00%
MaxThon	0.00%

Developers now able to author, upload and share extensions for Opera 11 [Screenshot]

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:32:00 +0000

Opera today released the first alpha of Opera 11, the next version of the company’s award-winning desktop web browser. Opera 11 is the first Opera browser to include extensions, browser add-ons made using Opera application programming interfaces (APIs) and web standards like HTML5 and JavaScript. Opera was already the most powerful browser out-of-the-box; now, it adds a new level of customization. Opera 11 alpha is available from http://www.opera.com/browser/next/.

Extensions allow users to make their web browser their own by adding features and functionality directly into the browser itself, rather than as standalone Opera Widgets or Opera Unite applications. Developers can build extensions with the same web standards they already use to build websites and web applications. Better yet, with only a few tweaks to their code, developers who have already authored a similar extension for other browsers will be able to share their creation with more than 50 million Opera desktop users.

Opera announces last 10.70 build; Opera 11, complete with browser extensions, comes next

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 21:42:00 +0000

Very soon, the first build of Opera 11 will be released, and with it will come the long-awaited support for browser extensions.

Yesterday at Up North Web, Opera Software’s global press day in Oslo, Norway, it was confirmed that Opera 11 will support browser extensions, the plug-ins that users can incrementally add to their browser to customize the experience. All of Opera’s competitors: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and now Safari, each offer their own extension architecture already.

IE losing market share, Chrome gaining

Tue, 04 May 2010 11:20:00 +0000

For the first time, Microsoft’s share of the browser marked has slipped below 60 percent, according to figures from Net Applications, a Aliso Viejo, Calif., web app and metrics firm .

Browser market share:

Microsoft — 59.95 percent
Mozilla’s Firefox — 24.59 percent
Google Chrome — 6.73 percent
Apple’s Safari — 4.72 percent
Opera — 2.30 percent.

Story Here.

Opera Mini Rules Apple’s App Store

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:24:00 +0000

The fact that Opera Mini was admitted to the App Store was a huge surprise, but judging from the popularity of the app, it was the right move, at least from the users’ point of view.

At one point, Opera Mini was the most popular free app in all regional App Stores, as you can see in the screenshot below. Right now, the situation has changed slightly, but Opera Mini is still on top everywhere except in Australia, where it holds the second place.

Screenshots – Opera Mini 5 App for iPhone

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:21:00 +0000

Recently, Opera team submitted its Opera mini app to Apple for inclusion in iTunes app store. It may take quite some time for the opera app to be approved. Till then you can see below the official screenshots of Opera Mini running on iPhone.

The Browser Choice Reloaded

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:06:00 +0000

A little more than a week ago Microsoft started delivering a new Browser Choice for Windows to be compliant to the European Union law. There are plenty of web browsers to choose from, and my colleague Sorin Mustaca recommended Firefox. Usually a good choice, but currently users should be cautious about which browser they choose:

Opera just released version 10.51 of their web browser. According to the changelog, it fixes a vulnerability which could lead to execution of injected code. Users of opera 10.50 should update as soon as possible.