Brings geolocation, built-in WebM video playback, enhanced security

Jul 1, 2010 12:48 GMT  ·  By
Opera Software promotes the latest version of its feature-packed web browser (screenshot from the company's web site)
   Opera Software promotes the latest version of its feature-packed web browser (screenshot from the company's web site)

Opera Software has released the final incarnation of Opera 10.60 for Mac OS X. The powerful, multi-platform web browser provides a 50 percent faster web browsing experience, nifty geolocation features, built-in video playback with the open WebM format, and enhanced security.

According to the Norwegian software company, “Today you can experience being the first on the Web in features, speed and innovation. Opera Software releases the final version of the 10.60 browser with several new features, more user security and enhanced stability and is now up to 50 percent faster than the previous version”, reads the official Opera Software announcement dated July 1.

The report mentions that Opera Software has been able to rack up over 120 million active users on various devices with the Opera browser installed on them. One of the newly-included technologies forming “the Web of tomorrow”, the software company says, is geolocation. According to Opera, “Geolocation eases the work of putting you on the map by determining your position. To ensure your privacy, you have full control over when this feature is used.” The company’s code savvy staff has created an interactive map to show real-time downloads of the Opera browser, to showcase geolocation in action.

Built-in video playback is also improved thanks to the open WebM format that reportedly gives users optimized video on all supported platforms. According to Opera, this is a first for the browser.

“Other Opera features such as offline applications let you work using web-based applications, without Internet connectivity”, the report adds.  According to benchmark tests, the browser is now more than 50 percent faster than its predecessor. “This translates into a faster browsing experience for users on modern JavaScript-heavy sites such as Gmail and Facebook”, Opera says. On the security front, Opera 10.60 intros AVG-supported anti-fraud systems and phishing protection. Additional improvements are listed as follows:

Appcache: Use in-browser applications such as word processors and spreadsheets even without an Internet connection by storing the necessary files locally. More search: Opera 10.60 includes several search engines for the user to choose for themselves. Opera has added the Bing search engine as one of the choices, in addition to the default Google search. Search suggestions: With websites such as Wikipedia, get instant search suggestions to complement your search experience. Improved design: New design features such as an improved Menu button and icon tabs make day-to-day use of Opera even faster and easier. With the Speed Dial, another Opera first, get to your favorite websites with just a single click of the mouse.

Two weeks ago, Softpedia had a close look at some of these changes when Opera Software shipped the beta version of the browser. Back then, we noted that tab management finally worked right, that the entire web browsing session was faster and smoother, that the browser handled HTML5 video just as well as Apple’s Safari, and that the interface had seen a bunch of notable improvements. With the final release of Opera 10.60, we can only expect all these enhancements to work twice as better now. Use the link below to download Opera 10.60 final for your Mac.

Download Opera for Mac OS X (Free)