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Opera 10 Final Released

by Craig Buckler

Opera Following a few months of beta testing, Opera 10 has finally been released and is available for download.

We previewed the new features and performance in June, but the main additions you can expect are:

an improved interface
a re-sizable tab bar with page previews
in-line spell checking
webmail integration
HTML email composition
auto-updates
crash recovery
Opera Turbo — a new proxied compression system that can speed up a slow Internet connection.

Even better — they’ve improved the application logo (about time!)

Opera screenshot

Developers can also utilize several new facilities including:

a better DragonFly; Opera’s Firebug-like development and debugging console
web fonts
HSL (Hue, Saturation and Luminosity) colors in CSS
CSS opacity within RGB and HSL declarations
JavaScript DOM element selection using CSS-like syntax
improved SVG support
rudimentary HTML5 support

My first impressions are good. Opera 10 is slick and looks better than the competition. It feels just as fast as Chrome or Safari with many of the customization options and power tools in Firefox. It’s early days, but I’m increasing tempted to use Opera as my default browser … I recommend you try it for yourself.

Links:

This post has 27 responses so far

I have been using Opera since one of your earlier articles about it. I feel it is a much better browser then all others and the only reason I can see to use FFx over it is if you need addons. I still develop in FFx as the Opera developer tools aren’t up to the FFx addons. Browsing is much more enjoyable in Opera though. Also it doesn’t hog resources like FFx which was starting to annoy me when I used it a lot.
Robbo89
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:35 pm
I found it to be laggy on OSX 10.5 – the UI didn’t seem all that friendly. It’s definitely for some level of power-mega-user that I can’t even comprehend.
Jasconius
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:54 pm
I’ve used Opera since about version 4. It’s my default browser by choice at home and work. Many of the functionality that addons give to FF is already built into Opera if you know where to look.
aweb4u
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:12 am
I downloaded Opera 10 yesterday, both the Windows version (for the office) and a GNU/Linux version (for home). The upgrade from 9.64 was just as smooth and painless as I’ve come to expect from Opera. Everything just works.

I didn’t notice any effect from Opera Turbo at home, but maybe it considers my wireless connection (typically 0.5/1 Mb/s) fast enough not to need it.
AutisticCuckoo
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I always loved Opera for its speed and mouse gestures.

After I start doing web development, however, Firefox was a muc better choice for debugging websites.

Opera 10 is still not a good option for a webdeveloper, but I would be very tempted to use it for personal use.
Firefox is working to slow and if I want mouse gestures is even slower. Sometimes it crashes and the cache does not refresh always properly.

I still believe that Firebug is better, easier to use and to reach compare with Opera’s Dragonfly. Firefox, also has that plugin that shows if you page validates or not, whenever you look at the source code. I tried to install the google toolbar on opera, but I can’t get it work using the widget.

If I would have to do web development, Opera 10 would be my first choice for sure.
Recruit
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:43 pm
No mention about the increased stability in Opera 10.
No mention about the new Opera Speed Dial customization.

Even better — they’ve improved the application logo (about time!)

Even better – improve the pixelated logo you display with the blog post. You didn’t pixelate the new Firefox logo. Show some professional quality and respect.

crash recovery

Crash recovery has been in Opera since Opera 6.0. Built-in crash reporting has been introduced in Opera 10. Be professional, get it right.

Opera Turbo — a new proxied compression system that can speed up a slow Internet connection.

Misleading. It does not “speed up a slow connection”. Spreading this kind of inaccurate information is not professional. Show some respect, get it right.

Opera Turbo — a new compression technology using the Opera Web Optimization Proxy that can improve the speed of Web page downloads on a slow Internet connection.
Ben
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:07 pm
@AutisticCuckoo
If Turbo’s required, you’ll notice that JPG images are more highly compressed. It really depends on your connection speed and sites you’re visiting though.

@Ben
Thanks for your feedback. I’ll attempt to be more pedantic in future. Or perhaps I’ll reconsider writing glowing reviews of Opera in case I inadvertently offend their community?

The logo is an enlarged copy of the new Windows logo (bitmap). If you have a better one, please send it to me and I’ll change it.
Craig Buckler
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:17 pm
I think Ben is not necessarily representing the whole of the opera community. Those comments are a little harsh.

So anyway you can grab a much larger application icon on the opera press pack pages:

http://www.opera.com/media/images/icon/Opera_512×512.png

Thanks for writing up the release Craig. As a long term Opera user I appreciate it, since I feel that Opera is too easily overlooked.
armchaircritic
September 4th, 2009 at 12:58 am
@armchaircritic
Thanks for your comments. Opera’s a great browser and I will write about its future developments whether Ben likes it or not!

Incidentally, the logo link doesn’t work for me? I’ve been trying to download media from Opera.com for the past couple of days, but it’s been temperamental (possibly because many people are grabbing the browser).
Craig Buckler
September 4th, 2009 at 1:20 am
That’s weird! It gives a 404 if I visit now too. Looks like the ‘x’ in the file name is causing some problems..

Not sure if it will help but I tried grabbing the file via this webpage:
http://www.opera.com/press/resources/
Though it may be as you say, a little temperamental at the moment. :)
armchaircritic
September 4th, 2009 at 2:39 am
@Craig:

If being pedantic will mean the information will be more accurate, then yes, sounds good.

“The logo is an enlarged copy of the new Windows logo”
You mean: the logo is a pixelated copy of the new Opera logo?

You can find larger sizes of the new Opera logo in AI and PNG versions at Choose Opera blog under buttons.
You can also find it at the Opera Desktop Team blog.
You can also find it on many other article websites and blogs.
You can also find it in the Opera 10 Program Files folder after installing it (you installed it, yeah?):
C:\Program Files\Opera\Styles\images\Opera_256×256.png

Not intending to be harsh, but to be asking for a better version of the logo is a bit slack and lazy.

I don’t think it is about “offending” as such. More towards quality control and bias neutral reporting from a renowned and established journalistic company, SitePoint Pty Ltd. The majority of the blog post is actually decent. Compare it to the blog post when Firefox 3.5 was released. Provides a totally different perception. Similarly, someone did ask “Can Opera Ever Become Popular?” The kind of angle that promotes a misguided representation, something that other browsers don’t receive. Any wonder.

Show that SitePoint genuinely cares about the subject that it writes about and how it is presented. Express it with a consistent quality that readers can look up to.

Thanks, Craig. Please feel free to remove my comments. They are meant for general and critical feedback, not to humiliate. A review of the review, if you like. Possibly even considered off-topic.
Ben
September 4th, 2009 at 3:12 am
You can find the new logo here:

http://my.opera.com/non-troppo/blog/2009/08/25/after-many-years-2
Andreas
September 4th, 2009 at 7:06 am
I finally managed to get a better logo and it’s been added to this page.

Opera are still using the old logo in many places. I’m not sure what’s going on at Opera.com, but resources are frequently appearing and disappearing! Perhaps they’re doing a site overhaul?

Anyway, I hope the new logo above shows enough professional quality and respect to satisfy Ben!
Craig Buckler
September 4th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
@Ben

Compare it to the blog post when Firefox 3.5 was released. Provides a totally different perception.

I’m not sure how you perceived it, but the Fx3.5 post simply said that it was available and you should be wary about extension compatibility? This post goes far further — if anything, it promotes Opera more.

Similarly, someone did ask “Can Opera Ever Become Popular?” The kind of angle that promotes a misguided representation, something that other browsers don’t receive.

That someone was me! IE has a 60% market share. Firefox has 30%. Opera has 2%, has been overtaken by Chrome and Safari, and is rarely used outside of Europe and Asia. It deserves more attention and the article questioned why it wasn’t happening. How is that misguided? The article positively promoted Opera and many people tried it following publication.

However, following your criticisms, I’ve checked my coverage of the top 5 browsers: IE (11 articles), Opera (5), Firefox (4), Chrome (3), and Safari (1).

Given it’s market share, I’ve over-promoted Opera in comparison with the others. Thank you Ben — I now realise that I’ve been biased toward the browser and will need to reconsider future articles.

I guess you are an Opera user and are used to defending the browser? Nit-picking positive press is unlikely to help your cause.
Craig Buckler
September 4th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
This new version of Opera still has a major bug that I found in an ealier version – it cannot perform client-side XSL transformations. In theory it is supposed to, but in practice it fails on the login page of my web application (see http://www.radicore.org/demo/menu/logon.php?csxslt=on). This has worked for years with IE, Firefox and Safari, but Opera fails miserably.
Tony Marston
September 4th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
@Tony Marston
As far as I’m aware, Opera has supported XSL transformations since version 9 or thereabouts. I’m not sure about the problem in your code, but something like this normally works in non-IE browsers…
```
var xml = (new DOMParser()).parseFromString("...XMLSTRING...", "application/xml");
var xsl = (new DOMParser()).parseFromString("...XSLSTRING...", "application/xml");
var xslp = new XSLTProcessor();
xslp.importStylesheet(xsl);
var trans = xslp.transformToDocument(xml, document);
```
I have created client-side XSL transformations that work in Opera.
Craig Buckler
September 4th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
@ Craig Buckler

My XSL transformations have been working for at least 6 years using several different XSLT engines – Sablotron in PHP4, XSL in PHP5, and client-side using IE, Firefox and Safari. They have also worked in desktop applications such as Komodo (from Activestate) and the Oxygen XML editor. Yet Opera is a complete failure in this respect, so the fault lies with the Opera implementation.
Tony Marston
September 4th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
@Tony Marston
I can assure you that transformations are supported in Opera. However, perhaps there’s a browser bug or incompatibility that’s being fired by your code? Are you attempting something fairly complex?
Craig Buckler
September 4th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
@ Craig Buckler

No, what I am attempting is not complex – it is a straightforward transformation that works in every other XSLT engine. If you try the link http://www.radicore.org/demo/menu/logon.php?csxslt=on you will see that it fails to display the user_id and password fields in the logon screen, which prevents anybody from logging on.

If you use the “view source” function you will see exactly what the XML document contains as well as the link to the XSL stylesheet. I challenge you to try the same XML and XSL documents in any other XSLT engine, then explain to me why Opera fails so miserably.
Tony Marston
September 4th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
@Tony Marston
Ahh, I see. You’re serving an XML file which is transformed, rather than using JavaScript to handle the transformation. So, yes, I’d agree that Opera is getting confused somewhere.

It’s probably safer to transform the XML server-side then serve HTML to the browser.
Craig Buckler
September 5th, 2009 at 1:01 am
@ Craig Buckler

While other browsers can handle the client-side transformations without any problems, I will just have to advise my customers that Opera is a waste of time.
Tony Marston
September 5th, 2009 at 1:13 am
@Ben

I started using Opera as my default browser instead of just testing BECAUSE of the article Craig wrote, “Can Opera Ever Become Popular?”. And this article has NO problems. Fan boys are meant to thank people like Craig for these posts not give harsh feedback about tiny things which change nothing. As far as I’m concerned Turbo makes it faster, who cares how he words it. How about you have some respect for SitePoint and what they do to help get the word about Opera out.
Robbo89
September 5th, 2009 at 1:27 am
@Craig:

Anyway, I hope the new logo above shows enough professional quality and respect to satisfy Ben!

Single me out, I am flattered. I hope it passes SitePoint’s quality standards. Does SitePoint even have a journalistic policy and quality assurance guidelines that they adhere to? I have not been able to find one.

“Can Opera Ever Become Popular?” … How is that misguided?

Opera is popular. It may not have as much market share as other browsers, due to many valid reasons, but Opera is popular.

Unlike many, I personally don’t give two hoots about Opera’s market share. So long as Opera’s vision continues, it is a privilege to be able to use a quality Web browser from a valued and respectful company. Open standards, innovation, security, patent-free Web, and it’s main focus on the user.

Given it’s market share, I’ve over-promoted Opera in comparison with the others … and will need to reconsider future articles.

Now you are just being silly. You would post articles base on market share alone. Thanks for this clarification. Article numbers and the promoting any browser are not what my comments are about. You seem to be not understanding this point.

I guess you are an Opera user and are used to defending the browser?

Opera user, yes. Firefox user, yes. Safari user, yes. Chrome user, yes. IE user, yes.
Defending a browser is not what my comments are about. You seem to be not understanding this point.

Nit-picking positive press is unlikely to help your cause.

That would be nit-picking inaccurate positive press. You did update the logo, yeah? The blog post is looking better already. Good for you. Feel free to continue to help my cause and correct the incorrect information so your readers are not misinformed.

Thanks, Craig. My comments may not be what you are used to. I hope you can recognize they are for good intent.

—-

@Robbo89:

I started using Opera as my default browser instead of just testing BECAUSE of the article Craig wrote

It would be wise to use a browser as your default based on the merits of the browser, not based on an article.

And this article has NO problems.

The article has four problems and inaccuracies as I outlined. I am a fan of quality, accurate, and consistent journalism. Normally I would fluff it off, but the article makes a point about the improved application logo, only to show a pixelated version of it. That’s just dodgy. A really nice quality version logo has since been put in place, hopefully due to SitePoint quality assurance. Someone agreed.

As far as I’m concerned Turbo makes it faster, who cares how he words it.

Obviously I do. And I am sure many would agree that Opera Turbo does not “speed up a slow Internet connection”. It’s like saying zip files speed up a slow Internet connection. It is not true. Getting it right is important and SitePoint should take responsibility to do so. If you are not fussed on how it is worded, then just ignore my comments.

How about you have some respect for SitePoint

I have respect for SitePoint, so long as their articles contain quality, accurate, and consistent journalism.
Ben
September 5th, 2009 at 4:37 am
I have been using Firefox, still i like to browse with firefox. But recently i switched to using Opera as default browser because of its new “Speak” feature. It is realy great and next generation thing. You don’t need to read pages, Opera will speak it for you. For web developement, i still use Firefox with firebug.
HostOnNet
September 5th, 2009 at 6:15 am
Dear Opera.
If you want MS to give users an options to choose their browser, why you didn’t mention that you are going to take over my torrent files when I installed you?
dan
September 5th, 2009 at 9:36 am
@Ben
The only reason I used the Windows logo was because the Opera media resources were not available at the time (see above). But if you prefer to think it was because of your comments, that’s fine by me.

You say that you want accurate reporting then state you don’t care about browser statistics. How else would you measure Opera’s popularity? What are the ‘valid reasons’ you state for Opera having a smaller market share than other browsers? I’m sure Opera would like to know them too.

Defending a browser is not what my comments are about.

It doesn’t read like that. You say that you’re a fan of accuracy, but do not appear to have read what you’re complaining about?
Craig Buckler
September 7th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
dan Says: If you want MS to give users an options to choose their browser, why you didn’t mention that you are going to take over my torrent files when I installed you?

All along Opera had the BitTorrent function built in. It isn;t hard to disable it. Just google “Disable Opera Torrent”.
zhu
September 8th, 2009 at 8:40 pm

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Craig is a Director of OptimalWorks, a UK consultancy dedicated to building award-winning websites implementing standards, accessibility, SEO, and best-practice techniques.

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