Opera 9.0 Released

Nurgled writes "After teasing us for months with betas and snapshots, Opera Software have finally released version 9.0 of their web browser. The new version features correct ACID2 rendering, native support for the SVG Basic profile, a built-in BitTorrent client, support for Microsoft's designmode and contenteditable extensions, per-site configuration, Atom support, Web Forms 2.0 support, Canvas support (and some Opera-specific extensions), NTLM authentication, some support of parts of CSS3 and lots more. The full changelog is available." p14nd4 adds "And for you *nix users, it hasn't hit their .deb repository quite yet, but there are regular installers available for the major players, including a fixed Ubuntu installer and an x86 Solaris version."

Re:A bit torrent client?

[Nurgled]

The main Opera.exe plus the Opera.dll that contains all the fun stuff still only adds up to a paltry 3.12MB (Windows version, obviously) even with all this stuff. It might be experiencing a bit of creeping featurism, but it doesn't seem to be suffering for it. I've noticed no speed decrease from Opera 8.51.

I'm actually quite pleased with the BitTorrent support; There have been many occasions when I've gone to download something and a site has offered both BitTorrent and a normal HTTP download, and I've picked HTTP just because it saves me launching some other app. Obviously the prolific downloaders aren't going to use it in preference to Azureus or uTorrent, but I expect it'd come in handy for more casual users and is also a good first step to greater adoption of BitTorrent.

Re:How about an API

[Anonymous Coward]

It will make you happy then...

Re:BT Client sucks

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously you haven't used Opera9 at all. The BT client in Opera9 works similar to regular downloads and so does indeed show transfer rates and the number of seeds/peers. In addition to that when you download the torrent file it will allow you to limit your upload and download speed. It also shows the amount of data uploaded/downloaded and the number of current connections going out/in.

Re:How about an API

[Mark Gillespie]

It supports netscape plugin API, and Widgets, is that enough entensions for you?

Re:Finally

[RonnyJ]

I've been using Opera weekly builds for ages now, and I haven't noticed any difference in resources from Opera 8.51 (and it certainly uses less than Firefox). Opera 9 does contain BitTorrent support, an IRC client, a mail client, widget support, etc, but I certainly wouldn't be able to tell that from running it.

Anyway, my favourite new feature in Opera 9 has to be the 'create search' function to easily create new search engines for Opera to use (and to use in the search dropdown). I'd explain how to use it (exceedingly simple), but a good overview is perhaps here [opera.com]

The Opera canvas extension

[zxSpectrum]

The canvas extension in question is the opera-2dgame [opera.com] context. Some of what it features is:

• setPixel and getPixel
• point in path-detection, using checkCollision
• canvas update locking

There is work underway to get a similar API for the canvas into the specification. [whatwg.org]

Disclaimer: I am the author of the mentioned blog post detailing the opera-2dgame context.

Re:How about an API

[neonprimetime]

Have you ever used Opera? There is quick & easy to use ad-blocking capabilities built-in ... It's under Tools->Options ... and there are like 4 stages ... ranging from Allow-All to Block-All

More goodies since v8

[porneL]

• adblock
• user-defined search engines, opera:config
• mht (web archives) reading and writing
• XSLT, XPath, JS XSLTProcessor, xml:id. DOM2 Stylesheets in weekly version.
• TLS/1.1 with workaround for buggy TLS/1.0-only servers
• fixed long-standing bug with z-index of <iframe>

Re:How about an API

[Anonymous Coward]

What I love about Opera is that all of the extensions I use in Firefox come by default in Opera (ok, it doesn't have FireSomthing but I can deal without that). And it's configuration is simple to back up and copy between machines. Anytime I sit down to Firefox I have to remember which of the tabbed-browsing extensions actually works and gives me the functionality I want (session-saving, duplicate tab, ability to reorder tabs, open absolutley everything in a tab not a window)

pet bugs still there

[richlv]

unfortunately, my own pet bugs still are there...

1. opera constantly stats all files in the download list, including already downloaded ones;
2. bittorrent downloads don't work through an http proxy;
3. systray icon in kde breaks icon arrangement with 48px tall kicker

though it is good that google maps buttons now work and icon is transparent :)

Welcome to the party..

[ThatDamnMurphyGuy]

"# Initial support for NTLM authentication."

It's about farging time already.

Re:How about an API

[TAiNiUM]

Opera does have extensions. They call it User JS.
Here is a good repository: http://userjs.org/ [userjs.org]

Re:Finally

[Danga]

I totally agree about the responsiveness and how snappy Opera is versus firefox, that was what initially got me using Opera a few years ago over Moz. It is my main browser as well on Windows. I have noticed that on some websites Opera does seem to have run away memory issues where I have to close it using task manager, it does not happen very often but it does occur. I have also noticed that if I leave msdn.com open in a tab that there seems to be a memory leak and I need to close and restart Opera to get the memory back as just closing the tab does not seem to work. When this last issue occurs the mem usage goes to 100MB+, it is quite annoying. Overall I am a happy Opera user, I don't need all of the extensions available to firefox as Opera has everything I currently need.

Re:More goodies since v8

[octaene]

Well, I'm going to give Opera a try for a week to see if I can get used to it. I will say that the ad blocking features aren't as good as the Firefox Adblock plug-in (so far as I can tell). I could block IFRAME elements with that, but seemingly cannot in Opera. I'll keep trying...

Re:How about an API

[RonnyJ]

That's not ad-blocking, that's popup-blocking. You may argue that's just semantics, but I can guarantee that a 'Block-All' setting on popup-blocking won't block all ads.

Anyway, Opera 9 does have what would be commonly known as an 'ad-blocker'. To get to it, right-click somewhere and select 'Block content'.

Re:How about an API

[pkiff]

If you like Firefox because of the the web developer toolbar, then you may be interested in the Opera W3-Dev Menu: http://tobyinkster.co.uk/opera [tobyinkster.co.uk]

Re:Frightening the Fox.

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, there are a few things I'd like to point out:

1. Firefox development is focused on Win32. Ben Goodger, the lead developer, does not use Linux.

2. Firefox 'memory leaks' are just a myth. Firefox keeps the last few pages stored in RAM for the instant back/forward functionality. Popular extensions, such as ForecastFox, are known to cause leaks as well.

3. The entire interface is rendered by the Gecko rendering engine itself, as XUL - which may cause Firefox to appear sluggish. The benefit of XUL is Firefox's extensions system, cross platform compatibility, and rich XUL applications, such as AjaxWrite and Mozilla Amazon Browser.

Re:How about an API

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, it does. The interface is real easy to use, and you can add or edit entries if you want broader matches.
If you just want precompiled lists, you can go to http://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/ [yoyo.org]

Either way, it works really well.

Re:How about an API

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"Do you consider switching channels when commercials come on as stealing as well ?"

Ads are annoying. We all agree with that. There is a point to be made, though: If everybody blocks ads, whether they're for TV or for the net, sooner or later we can expect sites to either mandate paid registrations or die out all together. Maybe 'stealing' is a strong word, not interested in debating that, not that it would go anywhere useful anyway. It's the consequences one has to be mindful of. These services cost money to produce and be made available. Whether it is 'stealing' or not doesn't change this fact.

Re:Yawn

[ChristTrekker]

Tabbed browsing is a gimic that steals screen space and makes me move my hands from the keyboard to the mouse.

You didn't know about ctrl+tab? That's been around as long as I can remember.

If you change the UI you put me into a position where I have the learn something new.

Are you lamenting the fact that cars don't come with leather reins, too? Another hint: you can't refuel your car by letting it graze in the pasture, either. Seriously though, change is a fact of life! Sometimes change is good, such as Opera 9 using ctrl+t for a new tab instead of ctrl+n, to match up with what every other tabbed browser does.

Anyway, I'm glad that you're happy with Opera 3.62. If that suits you, great.

Re:How about an API

[Bogtha]

Not just plugins and widgets, it also supports user JavaScript, which is basically the same as Greasemonkey. In fact, it was the original inspiration for Greasemonkey, and Opera has even added compatibility support so that lots of Greasemonkey scripts can run in Opera unchanged.

Re:tabindex?

[Stu22]

The implementation is the best I've ever seen.

You press shift+arrow keys to navigate between form inputs and links. I often use it instead of the mouse. Tab runs through form inputs. On a Mac you can also use alt-tab to switch between tabs. I don't know what the key is on Windows/*nix.

Re:How about an API

[Jugalator]

Opera's User JS is just equivalent to the particular Firefox Greasemonkey extension, not an extension system on its own. You can "only" add site specialized Javascript functionality with User JS, not change chrome, and so on up to providing complete application extensions like DownThemAll [downthemall.net].

Re:And it still doesn't support my friggin' bank

[Anonymous Coward]

You know what the problem is, and it would be fairly easy for you to write a workaround. Write a UserJS to capture the redirect and make it use W3C DOM standards. Or complain to your bank that their web site is broken; You are giving them your money, after all, they are somewhat beholden to you.

Like it or not, there is no 'top' in the W3C DOM. I haven't done frames in a while, but I believe it's 'parent' instead. The web site developers that wrote your bank's software aren't worth their salt.

BTW: I should mention that my captcha down below is, and I am not making this up, "ponies".

Re:Frightening the Fox.

[Kelson]

2. Firefox 'memory leaks' are just a myth. Firefox keeps the last few pages stored in RAM for the instant back/forward functionality.

If Firefox memory leaks are just a myth, then what are all those memory-leak bugs that were fixed in 1.5.0.1, 1.5.0.2, and 1.5.0.4?

Firefox does have memory leaks, but not to the extent that detractors often claim. Mozilla is working on these, and has even released a tool to help track down more leaks. It also has features, like the back/forward cache you mentioned, that consume lots of memory, which probably overshadow the actual leaks by several orders of magnitude.

The problem comes when people oversimplify, as in "I hope they fix the memory leak (singular)" or "Firefox doesn't have memory leaks, it has features." Either way, it obscures the actual problems.

Re:ACID2 -- excellent

[Kelson]

Firefox at least is working on it [howtocreate.co.uk]. The Gecko trunk is getting close, and there's a "reflow" branch that passes (but hasn't been merged in yet).

These fixes will miss Firefox 2.0, which will use roughly the same rendering engine as Firefox 1.5 does, but should be in in time for Firefox 3.0.

As for IE -- last we heard from Microsoft on the subject, they had no plans to target Acid2. Maybe IE8 if we're lucky, but if they maintain their current schedule, that could be in 2010.

Re:Frightening the Fox.

[jp10558]

What's most amusing about this is that Opera has the same feature sort of problems. For years there'd be people complaining about memory use till FF started doing the same caching in memory. Then it suddenly dried up as most people came to understand the "memory leak" was actually memory cache, and disabling that reduced memory use but hurt back/forward performance.

Opera loves it some memory cache, on my 1GB box with memory cache set to auto it will eat 350MB virtual memory without a problem. Of course, then modern memory management comes into play.