14 DAY TRIAL // Opera 40.0.2296.0, the latest version of the browser's developer edition, is out, and new features have been added, such as Chromecast support and a built-in RSS reader.
As Opera's Maciej Kocemba explains, the Opera team has finally got around to adding one of the most user-requested features, which is support for RSS feeds.
Opera has added the RSS reader functionality to the Personal News section, where users can add a new RSS feed to the news panel just by copy-pasting the RSS feed URL in the "Search catalog" field.
Once the browser recognizes the URL, users can finalize the process by hitting Enter.
RSS reader still needs some work
"The feature is pretty rough on the edges," Kocemba explains. "But hey, this is what developer is for."
No doubt the feature will work properly when Opera 40 stable edition comes out, but in the meantime, be advised that the browser will not be able to parse all types of RSS feeds. For example, Softpedia feeds do not generate any previews in the current browser release, but many other sites work fine nevertheless.
There's also no button to remove RSS feeds, and you have to go through the "add new feed" process, but instead of hitting Enter at the end, just untick the green checkmark instead.
Furthermore, the RSS feed URL is currently displayed instead of the feed title, but Opera says this should be fixed in future releases.
Chromecast support added to Opera
The other major feature added in this release is support for Chromecast, Google's technology for taking audio and video streams from your computer and sending them to a nearby TV that has a Google Cast device plugged into it.
To use Chromecast with Opera, users need the official extension from the Google Chrome Web Store and the special devices that are plugged into their (broadcasting) laptop and the (receiving) TV.
To use Opera 40 developer edition, just download the latest version and install it over your current Opera setup. You can download a fresh copy from Softpedia, for Linux, Mac, and Windows, or from Opera's official website.
