14 DAY TRIAL // An HTML5-enhanced pre-release version of Opera 10.60 is on the way, according to Opera Software, which released a fresh development snapshot of the browser, inviting users to help ship the first official Beta Build for the next iteration of Opera. Early adopters that already played around with the prerelease versions of Opera 10.60 know that, following installation, the browser welcomes testers to the Beta program. However, according to the Norway-based browser maker, the first official Beta build of Opera 10.60 is still to come, although very much on the horizon, so to speak.
“In the previous snapshot, we added several new features related to HTML5 and other open web standards. As many of you know, the HTML5 project started long ago here at Opera, and we are dedicated to fully supporting HTML5 and the latest in other open web standards, such as SVG and CSS. Opera 10.60 will be another step in that direction,” a member of the Opera Desktop team revealed.
Earlier this week, Opera Software made available for download a WebM-ready version of Opera 10.60. The focus of embracing WebM is to integrate VP8, Google’s codec for HTML5. Just as it is the case with Mozilla, Opera supports Ogg Theora as the codec of choice for HTMl5 < video >, and not H.264, unlike Internet Explorer 9 and Chrome (Chrome also plays nice with Ogg Theora). With VP8, Opera Software, along with Google, Mozilla, Adobe and others, hope to have found the Holy Grail of HTML5 video codecs, which will become the de facto standard for the industry.
“Now we'd like to give even more people the opportunity to test-drive the next Opera release, and like other betas, this one will be made available to a wider audience through www.opera.com. We really appreciate your help in getting this beta out there! If you are having problems with Geolocation, you can try checking it in other browsers as well. If it fails there, the problem is likely to be on the Geolocation provider's end. This feature will work best on wireless connections,” the Opera Desktop team representative added.
Opera 10.60 pre-Beta with HTML5 WebM VP8 video support is available for download here.
The Mozilla Developer Preview 3.7 Alpha 5 (nightly) is available for download here.
Google Chrome 6.0.427.0 WebM/VP8 Dev is available for download here.
Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Platform Preview 2 Build 1.9.7766.6000 is available for download here.
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