14 DAY TRIAL // The second Alpha preview of Opera 11 is now available for download and testing. The latest development snapshot of the next major version of the Opera browser comes after less than two weeks since the introduction of the first Alpha Build. As is the case with Google and Mozilla, Opera Software too features an accelerated release process for new Builds, and compared to older Internet Explorer versions, this also applies to Microsoft with IE9.
But despite the fact that Norway-based browser vendor has been asking users to guess what a secret major feature it plans to introduce in Opera 11 on top of what there’s already available, there are no big changes in Alpha 2.
“We are working hard on making our new extensions feature better, more functional and more stable,” revealed Blazej Kazmierczak from the Opera Desktop team.
“This build is the result of more than a week of our work on extensions, and also contains a small Unite surprise, fixes for the new Windows installer, and a nice set of *nix bug fixes.”
Users should keep in mind that Opera 11 is very early in the development process, which explains the Alpha tag.
In this regard, the release is designed for early adopters, and for deployment in testing environments and not into production.
Testers that want to get an early taste of what the next version of Opera will bring to the table need to be aware of the risks associated with running pre-release software including crashes and data loss.
“From now on, Unite Application will no longer be delivered with the browser installer. Instead, they will be downloaded when launched for the first time. This noticeably reduces the installer size,” Kazmierczak said.
“There's a new feature which involves an autoupdate feature for Opera Extensions and Unite Applications as well. It is not fully functional yet, as we are still working over server farm configuration.”
Opera Software also extended the way in which Opera 11 deals with extension in order to simplify the work that developers have to do.
“You don't need to pack and install your extension every time you want to just test it. Now you can simply drag&drop your config.xml onto the browser for a quick preview,” Kazmierczak added.
Opera 11 Alpha for Windows is available for download here.