14 DAY TRIAL // The first fully-fledged Beta development milestone of Opera 10.50 has been released to web and is currently available for download. Opera 10.50 Beta 1 is applauded as the fastest browser users can get their hands on at this point in time, but Opera Software also applauds the minimalist and modern design, the focus on increasing the browsing real estate space, as well as expanded web standards support, new features and fresh functionality. At the moment, Opera 10.50 reached Beta 1 only on the Windows platform, with the promise from the company that the Mac OS X and Linux builds will follow soon enough.
“With the fastest JavaScript engine and graphics library, and great speed on limited networks with Opera Turbo, Opera 10.50 promises to be the fastest browser on Earth. The brand new JavaScript engine, Carakan, runs Web applications faster and more smoothly — more than eight times faster than its predecessor — and can easily speed up even the most demanding Web sites,” Opera Software revealed. “In addition to faster JavaScript, Opera 10.50 includes an updated version of the unique Opera Turbo technology for significantly faster browsing on limited networks than any other Web browser.”
Opera 10.50 Beta 1 also brings to the table a redesigned graphical user interface, with style touch-ups, and a focus on increasing the quality of the browsing experience. At the same time, the release offers users the ability to browse the web in Private Mode. But unlike rival browsers such as Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.6, users are able to create both Private tabs and windows.
“Now, it is easier to use your preferred search engine, right from the address field. The new address field also shows your matching results in your history, bookmarks and even actual content on the pages you have visited. You can use different search engines and Web-site searches from the new Search field. Adding custom searches such as Twitter, looking at previous searches or finding something on the current page is a breeze,” the Norway-based browser maker added.
An important aspect of Opera 10.50 Beta 1 is the fact that the iteration embraces the latest releases of the Windows client, including Windows 7 and Windows Vista in terms of GUI. In this regard, Opera 10.50 is closely integrated with Windows 7’s Aero UI and comes with support for such features as Aero Peek and Jump List.
Another key aspect of Opera 10.50 is the fact that the browser features advanced support for modern web standards. The browser maker has tailored the new Opera Presto 2.5 engine in Opera 10.50 Beta 1 to play nice not only with HTML5, but also CSS 2.1 and CSS3.
“Our previous JavaScript engine, Futhark, was the fastest when it was first introduced a few years ago, and the challenge for our engineers was to once again to make Opera the fastest browser on earth,” stated Christen Krogh, chief development officer, Opera Software. “We are proud today to show the results of the amazing work the team has done, and we are looking forward with great anticipation to the final release of Opera 10.50.”
Opera 10.50 Beta 1 for Windows is available for download here.
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