Versions 9.5 and 10
Versions
The current Opera code base, used for versions 9.0x, 9.1x and 9.2x, is codenamed Merlin. It will see only minor feature improvements and mostly bugfixes. After version 9.2 Merlin will no longer be used. Major improvements such as changes to the layout engine are not planned for Merlin, but rather for later releases.
As the Opera Software company works on upcoming versions of Opera, they are releasing snapshot builds about once a week for testing and feedback.
Version 9.5
Opera 9.5, codenamed Kestrel, will fill the gap between Opera 9.2 and Opera 10.It will see some of the rendering improvements due to be made in Opera 10, and also aims to provide better integration with various operating systems. The first alpha build of Opera 9.5 was released on September 4, 2007. A public beta was released October 25, 2007,with a final release expected later this year.
Opera 9.5 will feature improved support for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), including many more CSS3 selectors and the CSS2 text-shadow property. Support for other web standards will also be improved. For example, Opera 9.5's Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) implementation supports 93.4% of the W3C's SVG test suite, and development of built-in support for Animated Portable Network Graphics (APNG) and MathML is underway.Plus, Opera 9.5 will include support for high-security Extended Validation Certificates.
The interface will undergo a few alterations as well, one of which is adding back in screen reader support. Opera's mail client, Opera Mail, will be updated, sporting an indexing feature and also fixing some outstanding bugs.Opera 9.5 will also give users the ability to save bookmarks and Speed Dial settings to the "Opera Link" web site. These preferences could then be synchronized with another Opera browser, such as a copy of Opera Mini running on the user's PDA.
Alongside the new features, Opera 9.5 includes new performance optimizations and improvements. One of these is x64 editions of Opera for compatible Linux and BSD operating systems.
Version 10
Opera 10, codenamed Peregrine, will see the most improvements. It will have new features, an improved user interface, increased standards support, bug fixes, and performance improvements.The first preview versions are expected to be released at the end of 2007.
Opera 10 will exhibit increased focus on cross-platform compatibility, integrating better with various platforms than in previous versions. New tools for web developers are also slated for inclusion in Opera 10.
Source: http://www.opera.com and http://www.wikipedia.com
Other Opera Products
Editions
Aside from the main edition of Opera for desktop platforms, there are editions of Opera available for a variety of devices. All are called "Opera" and are based on the same core,[48] but there is some variation from edition to edition in the features offered and the design of the user interface.
Smartphones and PDAs
Opera will run on smartphones such as this Nokia 6630.
Opera Mobile is an edition of Opera designed for smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). It can dynamically reformat web pages to better fit the handheld's display using Small-Scale Rendering technology.Or, the user may opt to use page zooming for a closer or broader look.However, like previous versions of the desktop edition of Opera, Opera Mobile's user interface has come under fire for being difficult to use and/or customize.
Opera Mobile is available for smartphones and PDAs running the Windows Mobile, S60, and UIQ operating systems. Users may try Opera Mobile free for 30 days, but beyond that it costs 24 US$.Devices that use the UIQ 3 operating system, such as the Sony Ericsson P990 and Motorola RIZR Z8, come pre-installed with Opera Mobile, the price of Opera Mobile being included in the price of the phone.
Source: http://www.opera.com and http://www.wikipedia.com
Mobile phones
When a user browses the web using Opera Mini, the request is sent via the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) to one of the Opera Software company's servers, and that server retrieves the web page, processes it, compresses it, and sends it back to the user's mobile phone.
When a user browses the web using Opera Mini, the request is sent via the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) to one of the Opera Software company's servers, and that server retrieves the web page, processes it, compresses it, and sends it back to the user's mobile phone.
Opera Mini is designed for mobile phones that would ordinarily be incapable of running a web browser. It is offered free of charge, but requires that the mobile device have Java ME (also free) installed. Opera Mini requests web pages through the Opera Software company's servers, which process and compress them before relaying the pages back to the mobile phone.[55][56] This compression process makes transfer time about 2-3 times faster and the pre-processing smooths compatibility with web pages not designed for mobile phones.
On December 28, 2005 Opera announced that Google would be its default partner for its mobile browser. However, on January 8, 2007, it was announced that Opera Mini's default search provider was changing from Google to Yahoo!.
Source: http://www.opera.com and http://www.wikipedia.com
Nintendo DS
Opera for the Nintendo DS includes the same Small-Scale Rendering and page zooming technology present in Opera Mobile. The Nintendo DS Browser also includes handwriting recognition software and an on-screen keyboard to enable user input.
Additionally, Nintendo partnered with Astaro Internet Security to provide web filtering for the Nintendo DS Browser. The technology is simply a professionally maintained proxy server that blocks pornographic and otherwise inappropriate web sites. Users can configure the Nintendo DS Browser to receive web pages through this proxy server, and this setting can be password-protected (by a parent, for example) to prevent circumvention.
The Nintendo DS Browser was released in Japan July 24, 2006,in Europe October 6, 2006, and in North America June 4, 2007. Like Opera Mobile, it is not free; rather, it is sold for 30 US$.
Source: http://www.opera.com and http://www.wikipedia.com
Wii
The Nintendo Wii On May 10, 2006, the Opera Software company announced that it was partnering with Nintendo to provide a web browser for Nintendo's Wii gaming console.Opera for the Wii, called the Internet Channel, was free to download from its release on April 12, 2007until June 30, 2007. After June 30, Wii users had to pay 500 Wii Points to download it.
Scott Hedrick, an executive of the Opera Software company, explained that the Wii browser was designed to suit a "living room environment". In contrast to Opera's appearance on computer monitors, fonts are larger and the interface is simplified for easier use.Notwithstanding the changes in design, the Wii browser supports all the same web standards as the desktop version of Opera 9,including passing the Acid2 test.[71] The Wii browser's layout engine is actually more advanced than the current version of Opera for desktops, as it includes bug fixes that will not be incorporated into the desktop version until Opera 9.5.
Source: http://www.opera.com and http://www.wikipedia.com