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Opera 10.5 hits beta, still faster than Google Chrome
Yes, it's here! Yes, it's faster than Google Chrome! Well, truth is Opera 10.5 has been faster than Google Chrome ever since the Carakan engine was bolted on in December 2009...But the bottom line is that Opera 10.5 is shaping up to be a very compelling browser.
One big change I'm particularly happy about is that Google Reader is now fully functional out-of-the-box. In past versions Opera couldn't get past loading the header, but that's a thing of the past with 10.5 beta. Those Windows 7 shell integration features we showed you in December are still included, as is the nifty per-tab private browsing.
In addition to the blazing Javascript processing speed of Carakan, the usual Opera features are still here: Link synchronization, Turbo compression, Unite server, and more customization options than you can shake a stick at.
Opera seems to be most proud of the speed factor, calling 10.5 'the fastest browser on Earth." I suppose they went with that just in case some developers on Coruscant are coding something faster...
Curious to see just how fast Opera 10.5 beta is? Download it and try it out!
ed note: one thing which escaped earlier detection is the new recycle bin icon in the top-right corner. you guessed it, it provides one-click access to your recently closed tabs. nice!
One big change I'm particularly happy about is that Google Reader is now fully functional out-of-the-box. In past versions Opera couldn't get past loading the header, but that's a thing of the past with 10.5 beta. Those Windows 7 shell integration features we showed you in December are still included, as is the nifty per-tab private browsing.
In addition to the blazing Javascript processing speed of Carakan, the usual Opera features are still here: Link synchronization, Turbo compression, Unite server, and more customization options than you can shake a stick at.
Opera seems to be most proud of the speed factor, calling 10.5 'the fastest browser on Earth." I suppose they went with that just in case some developers on Coruscant are coding something faster...
Curious to see just how fast Opera 10.5 beta is? Download it and try it out!
ed note: one thing which escaped earlier detection is the new recycle bin icon in the top-right corner. you guessed it, it provides one-click access to your recently closed tabs. nice!
Comments
33
Subscribe to commentshmmFeb 11th 2010 4:55PM
Haavard ,their employee, says this about javascript testing. : "They are still artificial tests, but I suppose it's our turn to play the PR game the other browser vendors have played for a while
I personally still maintain that artificial benchmarks are exactly that. Measuring performance on real sites is much more difficult. "
I tend to agree. Though the interface is faster than the previous versions and so were some javascript time-wasters, I really am unable to find noticeable differences between any browser on ordinary sites. I have been using Opera for some time now and will continue using it though upto 10 other browsers also find a place on my hard drive. :)
Lee MathewsFeb 11th 2010 4:57PM
Artificial wha?
In Peacekeeper on three of my systems, Opera 10.5 beats the snot out of Chrome. No artificial flavors, colors, or additives.
It even manages to beat Chrome on some tests in Google's own V8 benchmark.
hmmFeb 11th 2010 5:04PM
Well its not my comment,its Haavard's . He's Quality Assurance manager at Opera.
And I love Opera, look at my previous comments here on DS.
Lee MathewsFeb 11th 2010 5:05PM
Oh, I wasn't accusing you of non-love or anything, just confused by the statement. ;)
MxxConFeb 11th 2010 5:01PM
Actually for me in Peacekeeper, Chrome5 is now faster than Opera10.5
However, I had to run Chrome5 in 'incognito' mode so that it wouldn't use any plugins.
In regular today-to-day mode, Opera 10.5 is faster than Chrome5.
hmmFeb 11th 2010 5:10PM
And did you disable the plugins on Opera? F12 , Uncheck Enable Plugins.
Speaking of Incognito Mode, one of the great features of this release is the ability to have private tabs and not just windows, which are totally convenient as compared to any other implementation.
MxxConFeb 11th 2010 5:14PM
sorry, i meant to say addons/extensions, not plugins.
i have adblock, flashblock and a few other extensions that slow down chrome(especially for benchmarks).
plingsFeb 12th 2010 12:04PM
Opera is faster than Chrome at Peacekeeper here. Odd.
SensaiFeb 11th 2010 5:18PM
If I may make a suggestion....
...install this skin immediately after downloading 10.50 beta. It's amazingly pretty.
http://my.opera.com/Z1-AV69/blog/
ViaTorciFeb 11th 2010 6:30PM
Agreed. That's a fantastic theme if you have an aero capable operating system.
kojo87Feb 11th 2010 11:47PM
holy crap. that looks super slick. im going to give Opera a try. its gonna take quite a but to switch me from Firefox though.
SDreamerFeb 11th 2010 6:51PM
What I admire about Opera, even though it seems to be doing the worst marketshare wise is they can make a browser that flies through standards, and is still a closed platform. Microsoft has all this money to throw around for new products, but can't get their darn browsers working with all these standards, it's kinda annoying. I use IE8, just so I don't have to install anything else, but Opera seems really nice to have around. I might have to give it a try again.
MxxConFeb 11th 2010 7:52PM
MS is in a different position.
Because of the previous huge market share of their broken IE6, their new browsers must still have some of that broken rendering support.
Too many applications use IE engine to render their GUI and if IE will go completely legacy free those apps will most likely break.
This is especially mission critical to enterprises.
Opera, without large legacy support, can be much more agile in supporting new technology and retiring old one.
jkroederFeb 11th 2010 7:15PM
There has always been an icon for easy access to recently closed tabs actually. It just happens they changed it to a recycle bin this time around.
hmmFeb 12th 2010 2:56AM
Yeah the button has been there long around. But the new icon makes me want to empty it now and then. :) Not nice.
LarFeb 11th 2010 9:40PM
• The nameless Opera browser is good. It's still nowhere as good as Firefox, which Mozilla calls the world's best browser. As they should.
• One of the best things about the Opera browser is its visual design. It really goes a good job of looking good and staying out of the way. Version 10.00 looks great, in Windows anyway, and to judge from that screenshot posted here 10.50 looks even better.
• Another good thing is their Notes feature, which lets you copy and paste useful information without having to either bookmark the page, open NotePad and drop it there, or write it down on paper. I'm surprised no other browser offers this feature of Opera's. I mean, everybody took right to tabbed browsing.
• Opera tirelessly points out how theirs is the fastest browser in the world. It may be, for all I know, but that still doesn't compensate for the browser's mechanical insistence on loading every last element of a page, including Flash videos, before allowing you to see the page at all. So attempt to visit even a simple Web site, and you will wait, and watch the progress bar, and watch it some more.
• How are the Opera people still unaware that some of the most popular Web sites either work poorly in their browser, or do not work at all? Let me think... It won't load the Street View of Google Maps; Bing Maps does not work at all (and never mind the awesome new Bing Maps in beta); Windows Live Hotmail does not render well, and its compose screen has a hard time working. These are just three off the top of my head. There are many more. I come across one more every few days.
• One of the most irritating things about the Opera browser is that it offers the user way, way, WAY too many adjustments. Here again Opera should learn from Mozilla Firefox's elegantly intuitive simplicity. No matter how much I fiddle with Opera's font (and page and content) settings, it will not render a page with the fonts I want.
• Keep up the good work, Opera. I wrote this in Firefox.
LebeuFeb 11th 2010 11:57PM
I don't know how valid the old argument is about webdesigners being too lazy to test their creations with something that is more web standard compliant than Firefox...
btw: street view seems to work for me at least (Opera 10.10, win32)
King AntoniusFeb 12th 2010 1:04AM
I suspect you will not like hearing this. I'm using Opera 10.10, and Google maps works wonderfully. Bing maps and maps beta is flawless. Hotmail has worked fine for a long time now. If these sites still do not work for you then it is either your computer or a case of Pebkac. I'm not an Opera fanboy, I still prefer Firefox. But I do love the number of options Opera gives me and how easy it is to tweak each and every little setting without using something like About: Config.
LarFeb 12th 2010 8:00AM
King Antonius and Lebeu- I appreciate hearing about how Opera works for you, especially using the same configurations.
MxxConFeb 12th 2010 9:36AM
you are wrong that opera is waiting to download all elements before displaying the page.
Opera displays elements as they are received unless there's javascript before css, but that's the case for all browsers. you can't execute javascript unless you have all the page elements.