Opera 10 to emerge Tuesday

Opera Software will release version 10 of its browser Tuesday, a new version of software that has loyal fans but not as much adoption as several rivals.

The Norwegian company says Opera 10 has better performance, a Turbo mode for slow Internet connections, support for a variety of Web standards such as Web fonts, and improvements to the Opera Mail feature. The company issued two Opera 10 release candidates for the free software in the last week, and spokeswoman Falguni Bhuta announced Monday the final version will arrive September 1.

Opera has been available for years as an alternative to the dominant Microsoft Internet Explorer, the second-ranked Firefox, and Apple's Safari. It was pushed into fifth place with the arrival of Google Chrome. The Opera browser often charts new territory, though. For example, its Speed Dial feature, which presents an array of Web site thumbnails when a person opens a new browser tab, was first introduced in 2007. A similar feature can now be found in Chrome and Safari, and Firefox may add something comparable.

The new Carakan JavaScript engine, which is used to run Web-based applications such as Google Docs, isn't done yet, and the Unite feature is slated for a version 10 update.

Firefox, Safari, and Chrome also all are working furiously on better JavaScript performance too, in an effort to make the Web a better foundation for applications.

[keeeemal]

If only the Opera browser could import settings and passwords from other browsers as good as Google's Chrome, I would switch instantly.

[tipoo_]

I've seen that issue with Safari as well.

[iamwho]

I've being using the Opera 10 betas for sometime now and it is tangibly faster than Opera 9.6.4. I love Opera and think it's the best browser --no, not necessarily the fastest-- but the best overall browser. To me it just works smarter than IE, Firefox and, especially, Chrome. Even so, Opera needs to do a lot more work to be compatible with more sites... some are just completely unusable. (But that's a good reason to keep those other browsers around...)

[jake3373]

But WHY is it the best browser? You didn't provide ANY evidence.

[Efrow]

For me, it's the superior mouse shortcuts. Other people here have mentioned how the features keep working after updates (unlike Firefox), the mail reader (which they say is better - I don't use it, but just saying), the notes feature (with unlimited notes, and not just 4), the higher configurability of the toolbars. Some people find that turbo mode is useful for slower connections.

Opera is not for everyone, but it certainly does offer things that other browsers don't.

[sesshomaru117]

It may be a late response, but don't forget about the right click and edit site preferences....you can have opera change it's identity to become mozilla or internet explorer...as i said it's waaaaaaay late, but throwing that out there..lol

[BogusBasin]

Ooh! Turbo mode! Where do I sign up? I have a turbo button on my PC with Win 3.1! This will make it even faster!

Amen

[Vegaman_Dan]

Looks like your mouth's got a turbo button as well. BB. :)

[Ilgaz]

Well, people stuck on 56K or falls to such speed for some reason (e.g. hurricane) does benefit from the turbo mode you joke about.

[Maclover1]

Honestly who cares? Do they even have 1 % of the browser market? When I tried version 9 there were sites that totally failed to load. Two or three of those and I removed it.

[bithaze]

So you based your opinion on maybe five minutes' use of the product? Seriously now, think about that.

CNET needs some way to weed out the bad comments, and there are plenty of them like that.

[ibelieve01]

According to Statcounter, Opera is the world's third most used browser...and in some countries, passes even Firefox:
http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser-ww-weekly-200827-200912-bar

[Vegaman_Dan]

If CNET weeded out the bad comments based on biased untested basis, then the comments would largely be empty. :)

[Maclover1]

I guess its where you live....

http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser-na-monthly-200808-200909-bar

[Philips]

And they still do not have auto-updates a-la FireFox. At least something like IE does would have been passable too.

But only what 10th does is that it downloads newer version and installs it semi-automatically. And it still requires much more than few clicks to do. And setup is still dump and still asks all the setup questions. What a bore.

[Efrow]

I thought Opera 10 did have autoupdates?

[i-arman]

Opera might not have the awesome array of features available to Firefox (through plugins), or the overwhelming push associated with IE (5, 6, 7, 8...) but it *has* consistantly been innovative, and continues to be so. Opera was the first browser to use mouse gestures, which I now use all the time. Other firsts: pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, saved sessions, page zooming, automatic bookmark syncronizing (Opera Link), paste & go... the list goes on.

When I use another browser, I have to keep reminding myself how limited it is - I use a mouse gesture, only to remember I can't close a window with a flick of my wrist; I hit ctrl+shift+v, only to remember this other browser doesn't do paste-and-go. I guess I'm hooked :-)

[jake3373]

You can get all this with Firefox add-ons

[bithaze]

Maybe true, jake, but the point is we have all that built-in to Opera, without the need to download any add-ons or plugins.

[ibelieve01]

For the person who said you can get all of Opera's features through Firefox add-ons, that's not true. My business requires me to have a Hotmail account, and Opera is the only browser with a built-in email client that allows Hotmail access. The one add-on for Firefox doesn't work with Hotmail. Also, Opera has a built-in notes feature that lest me have an unlimited number of notes. Firefox doesn't (Their extension limits me to 4). Those are two ESSENTIAL OPERA FEATURES that keep me from being able to move to any other browser.

[Efrow]

Firefox may have similar features through plugins, but just because they HAVE them, doesn't mean they are on the same level. For example, mouse shortcuts. I've configured Firefox's as best I can, and tried all their plugins for that, but when scrolling through tabs, I still can't change the scroll order and I have to flick the wheel twice. Then on top of that, their gestures don't work when I do them over certain parts of the webpages. Opera's gestures are much better, and that's an essential feature for me.

[dowell100]

There will always be a market for Opera from wild fringe types. In a perfect world, projects like this would just die.

[ibelieve01]

In a perfect world, morons like you couldn't reproduce. So your "perfect world" is one such as Cuba or China, where competition are discouraged, right?

[Efrow]

More choice is generally better, I thought. What browser were you using from around 2000-2004? Netscape? Explorer? Because Firefox and Chrome weren't around then. But we did have Opera then, and I was having fun browsing with tabs, mouse shortcuts, and speed... and it was also fun hearing people say that they didn't see the point of all the features that are now so standard.

[biganthony2]

opera it the best! im using version 10 right now and it beats all the other browsers, with spell check, built in email client amazing customization ,speed, safety, compatibility ect.

not to mention turbo mode for when i get a laggy wifi connection

[ibelieve01]

As usual, when Opera releases a major version, the Firefox fanboys are out in force to diss it, without even trying it. Here's why Opera 10 is superior to Firefox 3.5 for ME:
1) The built-in email client is the fastest way I've found to read and reply to the huge amount of email I get each day (Firefox's "Simple Mail" extension is both slow and does not work with my several Hotmail accounts).
2) No browser makes better use of a sidebar feature. With Opera, I can have an unlimited number of notes (and as a writer, I use the built-in Notes feature extensively...Firefox's is limited to 4 notes)...the sidebar can have a calendar one click away....I can watch videos in the sidebar...check my email...as well as the normal things, such as monitor downloads, check bookmarks, etc.
3) It's far easier to make Opera look exactly how I want it to look in Opera. I can put almost any toolbar on any of the monitor's four sides (not just the tab bar, as with Firefox), I can change the size of the toolbar icons to any size, which I haven't been able to do on Firefox, even change the color of any skin.
4) Perhaps most importantly, all of these features don't suddenly stop working with every minor upgrade such as Firefox's extensions do.

[ri1030]

not to mention the easy search creation, and address bar searching with custom key word. like "g" for google and "w" for wikipedia or even your custom search like youtube "yt" (i define myself) so just type in "yt cnet video" then it will bring youtube search page with the result ;)

i have been using it for 4 years, for normal browsing its more than enuf, i do agree it has some site compablity tho >.>

[Mr. Dee]

So the fat lady sings tomorrow? She sounds annoying.

[Chocobito]

You are the evidence that ibelieve01 say its true ;)

[Wei_Zhu]

I am all for Opera trying to come up with new features and fight for its existence. However, it should just work. At my job, I occasionally get bugs reports on Opera specific issues. As much I?d like to help, I generally ignore these bugs. In reality, it is pretty hard to expect web sites or internet companies to make changes in their code to address Opera specific issues. Opera should recognize that and be fully compatible with IE or Firefox (pick one).

[ibelieve01]

And to that I would say Firefox should just KEEP working,, and not disable every single extension every time there's the smallest upgrade.

[Mike.Hawk]

i love opera more people need to see how great the browser really is.

[Shankland]

Mike: what features do you like specifically? Being specific might help to convince people to give it a try.

[misaoblog]

Cool...i will update my Opera soon.

[magicmaster]

If Opera is this awesome, it should have been gained a market share larger than firefox. But Opera did not. There must be some reasons...

hmm

[Chocobito]

So why FF didn't gain more that IE? ;)

[ibelieve01]

By that logic, Firefox couldn't possibly be better than Internet Explorer.

[PRsurfer`]

10 is PERFECT!... ..Opera 10 is going to surprise many... Memory management, Security, Speed, quick navigation, smart & easy navigation shortcuts like (paste & go, speed dial, mouse gestures, undo close tab, duplicate tab, sessions,) all those makes surfing the internet way smarter than using FF!!!...

Opera 10 has No need 4 SLOW & bulky FF EXTENSIONS because Opera has everything built in... Besides many of the extensions are really not needed!.... But Opera has : Speed dial, opera link, notes , unite , turbo, dragonfly, hundreds of nice & quick widgets, voice, speak, spellchecker, dictionaries, M2 mail client, feeds ,torrents, ftp, irc, newsgroups...

Opera is the best browser, not the fastest (chrome) , the difference is Opera makes surfing smarter and easier !

IE was my grandma browser, FF was momma's browser but Opera 10 is the future and the future started today!....

The future includes : Unite which is a really nice revolutionary new feature and Carakan promises to make Opera way faster!.... Opera rocks and the future is lookin brighter for Opera!

[orlandorr]

I'd like to have everything in a single program. I have downloaded Opera many times. I wish Opera worked, but it just doesn't. It has too many small annoyances that quickly grow unbearable, and instead of fixing them they're wasting time in pointless things like Widgets and Unite.

Not having extensions is the deal breaker.

[HealingStargate]

I have been testing Opera 10 for a few weeks now. Opera 10 is now my default browser. It is the fastest on my computer and loads up so much faster than FF.
I did not like Opera in the past but after 10 came out I am now enjoying the Internet more and FASTER.
Opera 10 is worth trying.

[ElizabethMoressi]

Did Opera 10 remove the ev ssl interface with the green url bar-- i am back to yellow at some sites ?

[Matty1968]

From my experience of IE, FF and Opera I can happily say Opera is by far the best and this isn't just an empty statement. I agree that Firefox has endless plugins for just about everything but to me it would seem most of them are are not very well integrated and whilst doing the job lack seamless operation. I also acknowledge some of the comments in this forum about Opera not working with some websites and this was true, mainly websites that used silverlight seemed to be an issue but with opera 10 i am yet to find a site that doesn't work.
Personally my favorite features by far are the speed dial which is now more customizable than ever allowing any number of sites to be added as well as aesthetic settings (although this was possible before by changing a .ini file). The undo delete tab facility is genius and i know firefox also has a plugin for this but its just not as good, you just press ctrl+Z and all the tabs you closed previously will reopen. The third feature is the mouse gestures which are great its just hard going back to windows and trying to use them with no result, firefox again has a plugin for this and it works just as well to be honest but its still nice to have it integrated from the start.
In terms of security i cant really comment as my understanding is limited but i would say that the more popular the browser the more vulnerabilities will be found because there is more incentive to find them.....so perhaps i should painting a more negative picture of Opera to keep it more secure!!

[Matty1968]

Sorry forgot to mention the fact you can drag tabs out of the browser to open another window, particularly useful if you have two screens and you just want to have two pages open together without having to open in a new window etc.