Here's yet another snapshot, with more Opera Unite fixes.

Upgrading to a 10.10 build should work smoothly now. We have also fixed a lot of the connection issues that people were seeing, so most of these problems should be gone now.

Apart from that, the installation of widgets is working again.

Happy testing!

Known Issues

• Some Unix builds may be missing, but most of them will be continuously uploaded
  
• Panel bar is showing by default in a clean installation
  
• Unite crashes if both UPnP and UPnP Service Discovery are disabled

WARNING: This is a development snapshot: It contains the latest changes, but may also have severe known issues, including crashes and data loss situations. In fact, it may not work at all.

Download

• Windows MSI / Windows Classic
  
• Macintosh (Intel-only) / Macintosh (Universal)
  
• UNIX/Linux

Read more...

A new face on the blog! Well, not really new, I've been part of the inventory at Opera for longer than most other team members

Anyway, here's the latest snapshot. This time, we've told the auto-update server before posting here. Everyone with the option opera:config#AutoUpdate|DownloadAllSnapshots checked should get the new build automatically (or be informed, in the case of Unix/Linux users) when going to Help > Check for updates, or after 24 hours of running Opera, or after restarting Opera if it didn't check in the hour before restarting. Please use this method of updating so we can test our systems

We still recommend regular backups of your profile, but everything should just keep working now if you upgrade from 9.6x to this latest build. If you still see problems with some profile data not getting migrated correctly to the new locations, please tell us! The only thing that will not get migrated are manual additions you might have made to the old operadef6.ini files.

Known Issues

• The license dialog when adding languages to the spelling checker is work in progress, it is not usable yet
  
• [DSK-250495] Linux: Spellcheck no longer working in some Linux distributions (Mandriva, Fedora) after recent changes to locations of configuration files.
  

Changelog

Highlights

• New context menu on the Turbo button
  

Core

• Reverted [CORE-17828] GetBoxRect gives incorrect result for inline which contains block (caused the regression with empty anchors)
  
• [CORE-6713] Absolutely positioned sibling of a relatively positioned child of a block with overflow hidden is not visible until all text is selected
  
• [CORE-19778] Scripting does not resume if embed is replaced with CSS "content" property (stream.cz)
  
• [CORE-20253] Facebook links wrap to new lines with Norwegian layout
  
• [CORE-20438] Query stripped from hash - mobile books on Google does not work properly
  
• [CORE-20596] portal.cyberjapan.jp never stops loading with Delayed Script Execution enabled
  
• [CORE-132609] Nested absolutely positioned element disappears if ancestor has non-visible overflow
  
• [CORE-12143] Incorrect cursor behaviour when 'moving back' in a RTL textarea
  
• [CORE-20179] User can use spellchecker to retrieve passwords
  

UI

• Work on license dialog for spell checking dictionary downloads
  
• Crash logging: Some improvements and rollbacks to crash upload dialog, startup will NOT be skipped
  
• Increased the width of the inline find pop-up
  
• [DSK-249030] (null) in the server security icon instead of server name
  
• [DSK-249277] Server name button in authentication dialog gives info for originating URL
  

Mail

• [DSK-246549] Kill the lexicon file if it's corrupted, and let it be reindexed
  

BitTorrent

• [DSK-252091] "Use system default" dropdown in the BitTorrent download dialog should be inactive when that radio button isn't selected
  
• [DSK-252084] BitTorrent dialog only works the first time you click a torrent link
  

Opera Turbo

• Added info menu item in Turbo context menu
  
• Changed Turbo info URL
  
• Tweaks to the detection of slow connections
  
• Small fix for Turbo not enabling when clicked
  

Dragonfly

• [CORE-15825] Crash in DOM inspector when inspecting document object with 'node' setting
  

Unix

• Prefs setting to control display of crash dialog
  
• [DSK-228856] Address field not updated on redirect for tab opened in the background): Don't handle focus different for unix desktop
  
• [DSK-251817] Crash when opening menus
  
• [DSK-251930] Linux builds do not upload any crashlogs
  

Mac

• [DSK-252561] Flash content loses its position when scrolling
  

WARNING: This is a development snapshot: it contains the latest changes, but may also have severe known issues, including crashes and data loss situations. In fact, it may not work at all.

Download

• Windows MSI / Windows Classic
  
• Macintosh (Intel-only) / Macintosh (Universal)
  
• UNIX/Linux
  

If you have been watching the Opera headlines, you have probably noticed that we are introducing Opera Turbo in several products. Today we posted an Opera Labs release, so everyone can try it out.

Technology overview
Just like Opera Mini, Opera Turbo requests normal Web content through a proxy. As opposed to the Opera Mini proxy, which uses the OBML format, the Web Optimization Proxy we are using will handle normal web content: markup, styles, JavaScript, images, etc. The proxy also uses the standard HTTP protocol with various optimizations to better utilize available bandwidth. And it is this bandwith save which will give you a speed increase. That means, the slower your network is, the bigger your gain is. But it will also mean that if you are on a fast brodband connection, it might not be any faster at all.

What kind of Web content will be compressed?
Not all content will be compressed when you load a page with Opera Turbo turned on. For example, Flash and animated GIFs won't be compressed. In fact, Flash content won't be downloaded at all initially. Right now you will just be presented with a white box saying "plug-in content" (there will probably be a image there later on). But if you click that white space, the Flash content will be downloaded and will play right away.
If you think an image is compressed too much, you can open it separately (Right click, Open Image) and reload. When doing this, the image will not be compressed.

What pages will go through the proxy?
Not all pages can be compressed by our proxy and some pages—like Intranet pages—won't be compressed. Our server can't reach your Intranet pages, so we will detect that you are trying to reach an internal page and load them as usual. HTTPS pages, like your bank, also won't be loaded through the proxy.

Delayed script execution
Together with Opera Turbo we have also turned on delayed script execution. It will only be turned on if Opera Turbo is on, and not during normal browsing. It will make script-heavy Web pages render earlier, so you can see the content faster than you normally would.

There will be bugs
There is still a lot to do, but we are very interested in your feedback at this point. If you find pages that will never load no matter how many times you try (even after clearing your cache), or features that normally work in Opera stop working, please do report them using our bug wizard. The more detailed the steps to reproduce are, the easier it is for us to fix. This Opera Labs release should be close to what you saw in the last 10.0 snapshot. So if it did not work in the last snapshot, don't expect it to work in this Opera Labs release.

Warning: Although it should not, traffic that is not supposed to go through the proxy can in theory end up there anyway. We don't know of any cases where this will occur, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Remember it is an Opera Labs release.

It seems like yesterday we released Opera 9.6 and now you can all get your hands on Opera 10.0. Rather than ramble on, here's a quick list of what's new:

• Presto 2.2 Engine
  
• Performance boost
  
• 100/100 and pixel-perfect on the Acid3 test
  
• Auto-update
  
• Inline spelling checker
  
• Opera Mail improvements, including rich text composition and delete after X days
  
• Widget Improvements on Linux
  

Can't wait to get your hands on Opera 10.0 Alpha 1, then get it now!

Download
Download
Windows
Windows Classic
Macintosh
Macintosh (Intel-only)
UNIX


What's New
Below is an overview of the new functionality in Opera 10.0 Alpha 1.

Presto 2.2 Engine

Opera 10.0 Alpha 1 includes Presto 2.2 (Kestrel includes Presto 2.1.1), an updated version of Opera's Core. Presto 2.2 features numerous new features and loads of bug fixes, such as:

• 100/100 and pixel-perfect on the Acid3 test
  
• New regular expression engine, which greatly improves performance
  
• Improved CSS performance
  
• Pretty-printing of unstyled XML
  
• Web font support
  
• RGBA and HSLA support
  
• Selectors API support
  

Auto-update
The long awaited auto-update functionality is here! That's right, Opera will now update itself as new versions are released. And for those of you who want every single snapshot release just enable the "Download All Snapshots" setting (opera:config#AutoUpdate). Please be aware that if you do so, you will be upgrading to all snapshots - and as you know: snapshots contain the latest changes, but may also have severe known issues, including crashes and data loss situations. In fact, they may not work at all. You have been warned


Inline Spelling Checker
Opera now checks your spelling as you write! The inline spelling checker is enabled by default for multi-line edit fields and this Alpha comes with a US English dictionary. Use the context menu of input fields to change the settings, and to correct spelling errors. See the detailed changelog for information about using other dictionaries.

Opera Mail Improvements
Rich Text Composition
Opera Mail can now send rich text messages! You can insert inlined images, styled text, links, custom HTML, and more! You can also forward and redirect rich text messages or reply to them with styled text.
In the account settings select "Prefer HTML formatting" in the outgoing tab so that you can start writing rich text mails by default in our WYSIWYG editor!

Remove from server after X days (POP-only)
This new feature is for our POP users with limited server space. Opera Mail can now remove messages from the server that have been there for X days. Of course you can limit Opera Mail to only remove read messages from the server, and/or only fully downloaded messages, which works great in combination with low-bandwith mode.

Other Changes
When viewing a message, the message subjects are now a text field again instead of a button. We have added also a "Thread" button to the message list toolbar to make some features more visible.

Widget Improvements on Linux/UNIX
We have added experimental support for true transparency for widgets on Linux/UNIX. For this to work you have to have an X Server that provides a 32-bit visual device and a running composite manager. If you start Opera from a terminal it will print this message if it detects a suitable 32-bit visual device: "(experimental) ARGB visual detected: Use '-visual 0x6f' to activate it".

If you have a composite manager running you can then try it out by starting Opera with: "opera -visual 0x6f" (0x6f may be another number on your machine).

Detailed Changelogs

• Windows
  
• Mac
  
• Linux/UNIX
  

Enjoy!

We've had some requests lately about where Opera 9.x is heading, so I'll give you a sneak peak into the current projects and their internal code names. We usually prefer code names over version numbers until the product actually ships.


Merlin

Merlin is the current code base, used for 9.0, 9.1 and the coming 9.2. On Merlin the main focus is on stability and only select new features are added. As you can see, the version number of the last preview build was 9.2, which normally indicates new functionality. The new feature is close to completion and will be unveiled here later this month. You have not seen it in a desktop browser before...


- Merlin falcons often hunt by flying fast and low, typically less than 1 meter above the ground, taking prey by surprise. Rolls-Royce used the same code-name for the engine that powered the legendary Spitfire.


Peregrine

The most important planned update to Opera on desktop. Peregrine will contain significant improvements in the user interface, improved standards support, improved performance, thousands of bug fixes and groundbreaking new functionality. In other words: We're pretty excited about it.

Previews of Peregrine will be found on this blog in 2007.

- The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest creature on the planet in its hunting dive, the stoop, in which it soars to a great height, then dives steeply at speeds in excess of 300 km/h. Suzuki named the fastest production motorcycle in the world after the Japanese word for Peregrine, Hayabusa.


Kestrel

Kestrel is the latest addition to our roadmap and fills the gap between Merlin and Peregrine. It will be the first release with rendering improvements from Peregrine. For the first time we will coordinate the desktop release with other Opera products, working towards a more unified Opera experience across devices. If you haven't done so yet, it's time to try out Opera Mini on your mobile phone.

- The Kestrel falcon is able to see ultraviolet, which helps them spot prey while hovering 10-20 meters over the ground. The Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine was later replaced by the Peregrine...