Opera Developer News

Opera has just launched our Opera Desktop 9.63 Chinese build. True to Opera desktop's tradition, the China version is also named after a bird:IBIS. IBIS can be downloaded from Opera download (6.7mb)

With the launch of IBIS, Opera has moved from translation to localization. We have listened to our Chinese users, and included many Chinese-friendly features. Through Opera's Open The Web effort, we have also worked with major Chinese site owners and IBIS is a proof that even more sites now work in Opera.

Once you launch the browser, you will spot a brand new look and feel. There is a bright red browser skin. Upon firing up a new tab, you will see that the Speed Dial has a hovering effect with precustomized sites.

This version has better tab management more suited for the Chinese users. Double-clicking a tab will close it and dragging a link to open the tab will open it in the background rather than the foreground.

Other features include support for popular Chinese download tool Thunder (you can now right click to download the file into Thunder). Opera mail now comes with China's favourite email configuration.

For those of us who don't read Chinese, worry not. You can still install it by choosing English during installation. For now, Opera 9.63 Chinese build is only available in Windows. Remember that even though Opera is a solid browser, it is good to backup your files when running more than one instances of Opera browser.

More goodies for this Christmas (or Chinese lunar new year) is the introduction of Opera Mini 4.2 Chinese Version and a sparkling brand new Opera China community site. You can download Opera Mini China using your mobile phone.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!